


Come Back and Haunt Me

by GeekLover



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Animals, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pining, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 21:19:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 62,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4850885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeekLover/pseuds/GeekLover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern AU. Some would say Arthur and Merlin don't have the most auspicious first meeting - unless you consider breaking and entering an excellent icebreaker. Merlin never planned on committing his first felony that night, but he'll do anything for a friend and, unfortunately his friend Will doesn't always make good choices. Arthur is certainly not happy to see Merlin in his home, though his dog somehow takes to Merlin instantly. Merlin is wearing a mask that night, but it may only be a matter of time before Arthur can put a name to the voice (and ears).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Back and Haunt Me

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to the mods at After Camlann for their incredible patience and keeping this fest going. 
> 
> Also a big, big thank to my artist matchboximpala for some lovely art and dealing with some of my problems. Here's her art post: http://archiveofourown.org/works/4783559. 
> 
> Thank you to argentsleeper for taking a look at a first draft of this. All remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> I've done research for the story, but I'm not really well versed in anything to do with veterinary medicine and other things so there may be a lot of dramatic license taken with some things.
> 
> Warnings: Contains brief mentions of animal & child abuse. There are moments of an animal in peril. There are off-page minor character deaths. Mentions of suicide. There is violence and strong language.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated!

As Merlin watched Will from across the street, as Will crouched in front of the creepy mansion, Merlin thought for the millionth time that he should really re-evaluate how he chose his friends. Though in fairness to himself, it was really his mother and Will's who had initially paired them up and Merlin had thought he was a dollophead (he was six at the time.)

Also, in fairness to Will, he had proven to be a good best mate...when he wasn't being a dollophead. Merlin was a bit tired of Will getting into trouble and somehow roping Merlin into it. Though this time Merlin was the one butting into the situation. 

Gravel dug into Merlin's palms and mosquitoes were making a meal out of his neck as Merlin contemplated leaving, but he couldn't just sit by when he could see that Will was clearly up to no good. 

There was no reason for Will to be here so late at night. Honestly, no one should be here so late at night. 

Merlin shuddered as he looked up at the grey three story mansion. He didn't really know what it was about the place, but he felt a bit uneasy looking at it. There was thick ivy covering three quarters of it and the rest seemed dominated by large windows that appeared blackened. There were tall shrubs surrounding it. The place screamed keep out, especially the black iron gate in front.

With the way Will kept looking around shiftily, Merlin had a feeling Will had no intention of keeping out. When he saw Will reach into his backpack and pull out some gloves, it pretty much confirmed that fear. 

Merlin decided it was time to intervene. He slowly stood up and crept over to Will as quickly and quietly as possible. 

As he got closer to Will he had to marvel at the fact that Will still had no idea anyone was behind him. Merlin was being quiet, but not that quiet. 

Merlin stopped and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I really don't think you're cut out for a career as a cat burglar."

Will almost jumped out of his skin and practically knocked Merlin over when he whirled around.

Merlin stifled a laugh.

Will's mouth gaped as he stared at Merlin. "Fuck! Merlin!" He clutched at his chest. "What the bloody hell are you doing? Trying to make me piss myself?"

"Not exactly. Seeing that once in my life was more than enough, thank you."

"Oi!" Will held up one finger. "That wasn't exactly my fault. If you don't piss yourself once watching _Monty Python & the Holy Grail_ then you're not really paying attention."

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Well, I managed to stay dry watching it."

"That's because you're weird, mate." Will said with a casual shrug.

"I'm weird?!" Merlin pointed at Will. "I'm not the one about to break into a creepy old mansion."

"Who said anything about breaking in anywhere?"

Merlin gestured to Will's ensemble. He was dressed in head to toe black. All he needed was a mask to complete the look.

Instead of coming up with an excuse, Will just sighed. "Alright. I am going into that house, but it's no big deal. No one lives there...probably."

"Oh, _probably_ no one lives there. Well, when you put it like that, I don't know why I was so concerned." Merlin swore Will must truly not hear himself when he said such idiotic things.

Will looked over at the mansion and took hold of Merlin's arm and dragged him over to a tall shrub by the gate. "Look, that's the whole reason I'm doing this. My boss wants to know if anyone is living here."

That explanation partially made sense. Will worked for Edwin Muirden at _The Camelot Sun_ , the largest newspaper in town. Merlin had only met Edwin a couple of times, but it was enough for Merlin to think something was slightly off about the guy. He wouldn't put it passed him to put Will up to something like this. 

"Why would he have you doing this? You're not a reporter there yet?"

Will grinned. "But I will be if I get evidence for Edwin."

Merlin sighed. "If he's giving you a chance for a promotion, that's great. But why like this? I don't think any job is worth going to jail over."

Merlin knew he'd said the wrong thing instantly when Will's expression darkened. He of all people knew how important becoming a journalist was to Will. He was always so desperate to follow in his father's footsteps.

"Well, this one is for me." Will scowled and walked away.

Merlin trudged behind Will. "What, or who exactly, are you expecting to find here?"

"It's possible that tosser Uther Pendragon is back in Camelot. This is his old mansion," Will explained.

This news peaked Merlin's interest. If you wanted conversation to come to a screeching halt in this town, all you had to do was even mention the name Uther Pendragon. It was chilling how unnerved and angry it made people, though Merlin found it kind of cool that he was living in a town with its own personal Voldemort.

Merlin didn't know why everyone seemed to hate him so much. He had tried to look up information online, but information about him was sparse at best. 

"Why do you think he might be back?" Merlin peered up at the house. He knew he was probably being paranoid, but as he looked at one of the windows, he wondered if he was watching them right now.

Will cocked his head to the side. "Come on, Merlin. You of all people should know." A small grin spread on his face.

 _Oh_. Merlin knew exactly what that look meant. Will loved to needle Merlin over his supposed crush on Arthur Pendragon. 

He did not have a crush on Arthur. Yes, he spent a fair amount of time staring at the man, but that wasn't his fault. Arthur was his English Professor's teaching assistant. He was constantly in Merlin line of vision. He couldn't help looking (looking and _not_ drooling.)

"Just because Arthur came back to Camelot, doesn't mean his father did."

"And that's what I'm here to find out." Will crouched down and slid his backpack off his shoulder. He looked up at Merlin. "So are you going to help me or not?"

Merlin's mouth fell open. "Help you?" He squawked. "Do you seriously think I'm going to help you rob Arthur's house?"

Will smirked. "Funny how you're on a first name basis with a guy you've never even spoken to."

Merlin spluttered for a second. "That is not the point. He's practically my teacher, and even if he wasn't, I'm not breaking into his house, and neither are you."

Will stood up. "Keep your knickers on. This isn't his house."

"How do you know?"

"Because Edwin told me that Arthur moved in with some woman, probably his girlfriend." Will put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Sorry, mate."

Merlin shrugged off Will's hand and ignored the insane spark of jealousy in his gut. "I still don't think this is a good idea." Before Will could protest, he continued on. "But since you're a stubborn git, I know you're still going to do this, so I better make sure you don't end up in jail."

Will grinned. "I knew I could count on you. I should have just asked you to come along. I could use the look out."

"And just what am I supposed to be looking out for? Some old nutter who could be an ax murder for all I know?" 

"Don't worry, Merls. I think you could take an old geezer." Will looked him up and down. "Maybe not."

Merlin punched him on the shoulder.

Will winced. "I stand corrected." He rubbed his shoulder. "Just scream if you see anything weird...or you're being attacked or something."

"I'm sure that will be no problem." Merlin rubbed his forehead and reconsidered just going home. Maybe jail could be good for Will.

Will took something out of his bag and thrust it into Merlin’s hands. “Now put this on.”

Merlin looked down at the flimsy material in his hands and blinked. He looked up at Will. He slowly held up the offending plastic mask. “Are you having a laugh? Please tell me you’re not serious.”

Will shrugged. “What? I think it’s the height of genius.” He took out another mask and put it on.

Merlin shuddered at the sight of Will’s mouth and eyes sticking out of the ghoulish Michael Meyers mask. 

He looked back down at the mask in his hand. “Jigsaw from _Saw_? How is this at all appropriate?” Merlin looked at the red swirls on the weirdly protruding round cheeks. It had blood red lips and red irises against black eyes.

“I figure it serves a dual purpose. It covers our faces, and it’s an effective scare. If this bloke gets up in the middle of the night, he’ll be far too scared and wondering what crazy nutters have broken into his place to try and do anything.” Will grinned and nodded as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

Merlin just shook his head as he donned the mask. "Why do you even have two of these?"

"I couldn't decide which one I wanted to wear." He glanced up at Merlin. Will tried to muffle his laughter, but even behind the mask it came out loud and clear. “I swear if we get caught and there’s a line-up, your ears will be a dead giveaway.”

Merlin shoved his friend’s shoulder. “Ha, bloody, ha! Can we get this over with?”

Will tried to start scaling the tall black gate.

"What are you doing?" Merlin whispered.

"How else are we supposed to get in?"

Merlin tried the handle in the door to the gate. It opened easily. "How about walking in like a normal person?" Merlin walked in.

He heard something thud on the ground and Will grumbled.

Will caught up to Merlin. "What's the point of having a gate like that if you're not going to use it?"

Merlin shrugged. "Maybe that means no one is actually here."

The closer they got to the front door, the more the pit in Merlin's stomach grew. They really shouldn't be doing this, and yet a big part of him was truly curious about what they would find.

When they got to the front door, Merlin tried the door knob. Unlike the front gate, it was locked. Will took out a lock picking kit. Merlin didn't even question how he got it.

It was a bit of a struggle, but Will finally got the door opened. He stood up, but before he could open it, Merlin pressed down on his shoulder.

"Look, I have no idea if Uther Pendragon is here - and I have no idea if he's as terrible as people make him out to be - but if he's here, I don't want to scare him. We're just going to get in and get out, yeah?"

"Yeah. If he's here I'll just take a picture or something and we'll leave." Will nodded.

He had his hand on the doorknob, when Merlin stopped him again. "And we're not here to pilfer anything, right?"

Will looked down briefly. "I'm not planning on taking anything." He paused and glanced at the door. "Can we do this?"

Merlin slowly nodded.

As they walked in, Merlin thought it was eerily quiet, even for so late in the evening. They walked into the large foyer and stared around. It was a tall building outside, but when Merlin looked up at the ceiling, it almost seemed to go up forever.

He looked back down and glanced around. From the look of it, there was no way yet to tell if it was abandoned or not. It was too dark to see much of anything. There was a small, round marble table in the middle and Will leaned against it.

"I'm going to look around upstairs." He took out a small torch. "Just stay down here and-"

"Holler if I'm getting attacked. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just hurry up and get this over with."

Will quickly climbed the long, spiral staircase.

After a minute, Merlin crept slowly toward a room on the right of the foyer. It was a medium-sized room. The whole color palette of the room was a dreary dark color. There was no furniture there. 

As Merlin left, he really wished Will had the courtesy to give him his own torch light. It was annoying having to fumble around in the dark. Then again, he was only supposed to stay put. But he figured it wouldn't hurt to explore a little more.

Walking through the house, a weird feeling came over Merlin. He couldn't exactly describe it. It wasn't exactly fear, though that was there as well. He just couldn't put his finger on it. 

Towards the back of the first floor, he walked into a room on the left. It was larger than the first room he'd been in. It was sparsely decorated with two tall wooden bookshelves on either side of the room, a brown leather couch in front of the left bookcase, and a large mahogany desk by a narrow window at the front of the room.

It was clearly a study or library. Merlin walked toward the left bookshelf, but he stopped in his tracks halfway towards it.

On the wall in between the two bookshelves was a large painting. The golden frame housed an image of a large, gray dragon with its tall wings extended. It was in mid-roar and surrounded by gusts of fire and burning buildings behind it. Merlin had never seen anything like it. 

There was something about the painting that struck him as being familiar. Merlin’s eyes remained glued to the painting as he stepped closer to it. When he was within arm’s reach, he began to reach out to it. As soon as he touched it, Merlin froze. 

Merlin paused for another second and then he heard the sound again - it was unmistakable this time. That was definitely the sound of a dog growling and it came from behind. Merlin took a deep breath and slowly turned around. He gasped. 

There was a tall, brown pit bull that stood inches away from him. The dog had drool hanging from the corner of his jaw as he growled again and barked. The dog had a thin strip of white fur that surrounded his small nose. His tail was swishing back and forth.

Slowly, Merlin reached toward his mask. The dog’s barking intensified. “Look, it’s alright. I’m not a weirdo.” Merlin got the mask up to his forehead.

After he did, the dog’s barking stopped and he cocked his head to the side. 

“That’s a good dog, yeah. I’m not going to hurt…”

Merlin was shocked when the dog bounded forward and knocked him over. Merlin froze and feared for his life. When he felt the dog began to bathe him thoroughly with his tongue, he loosened up a bit. He looked up at the dog, which in between licks was smiling and joyously wagging his tail. Merlin started to laugh.

He reached out and stroked the top of the dog’s head. “You’re not so tough, huh.” The dog started to lick Merlin’s neck. “I won’t need to bathe for a week now.” Merlin giggled.

The giggle died on his throat as the dog’s head suddenly shot up.

“What the _hell_ is going on?”

As the dog bounded off of him, Merlin scrambled to get his mask back on. When he had it secured, he looked up. There was a man standing in the doorway. From so far away, and in the dark, Merlin couldn’t make out anything of the man except his golden hair.

The dog went towards its master and whined up at him. 

The man looked over at Merlin and then back at his dog. “Kil…”

Merlin’s eyes widened. Oh, my God he was going to die. He quickly stood up and held up his hands. “I’m so sorry I’ve barged in here, but don’t kill me. I wasn’t trying to steal anything.”

“What? Kill you?” His eyes narrowed for a moment and then he rolled his eyes. “Oh, you idiot! I wasn’t telling her to kill you. That’s her name - Kilgharrah.”

Merlin cocked his head. “That’s an odd name. Why would you name your dog Kilgharrah?”

“If you must know it was the idea of a childhood friend.” The man said with more than a little irritation. “Now if you don’t mind…” He reached over to his left and flicked on the light. “Could you kindly leave my house?”

 _Oh...my...God_ Merlin wanted to crawl into a hole and die. No, scratch that. He wanted to strangle Will, then crawl into a hole and die. Of course it was Arthur. What was he doing there?

Merlin just gaped at him, breathing heavily behind the mask. He realized for the first time that Arthur had on red sweat pants...and nothing else. He gulped and tried not to stare at Arthur’s chest.

Arthur stalked toward him and raised his hand, which revealed that Arthur had a weapon in his hand - a sword. “I don’t want to have to ask you again.”

Merlin backed up and his back hit the painting. He didn’t know if he was more scared, confused, or amused. “A sword. Really?” The words were out of his mouth before he could think better of it. 

Arthur narrowed his eyes at Merlin. “Oh, I’m sorry if my choice of weapons is odd to you. I say to the man wearing the grotesque Jigsaw mask.” He curled his lip as he scrutinized the mask. “When you’re woken up by a petty thief, you tend to reach for whatever is handy.”

“And that was a sword?” Merlin wanted to slap himself. Why was he still talking? “What are you from the 1700s or just a really big fan of _The Princess Bride_?”

Arthur mocked laugh. “A sense of humor. That’s lovely. I’m sure that talent will serve you well when you need friends and protection in prison.” Arthur walked backwards towards the phone on the desk. He steadily held the sword towards Merlin. “Don’t move a muscle. I am an excellent swordsman.”

“Are you left-handed?” Merlin chuckled weakly. When Arthur gave him a blank look, he shook his head. “I guess you didn’t see _The Princess Bride_. And that is a shame because it’s an excellent movie.”

Arthur rolls his eyes heavenward and picked up the phone. 

“Wait!” Merlin shouted. If he went to jail, he knew for sure his father would kill him. He would never live this down and would never have any freedom. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. We just wanted one thing.”

Arthur lowered the phone slightly. “Well, if it was just one thing, by all means, continue.” 

“When I said one thing, I didn’t mean an object. We’re not trying to gank anything of yours.” Merlin rambled. 

“Gank?” Arthur sneered. “Are you speaking in another language now?”

“It’s an actual word.” Merlin crossed his arms in front of his chest. He knew he had no right to get testy considering he was the one breaking and entering, but he couldn’t help it. Arthur was really starting to annoy him.

Arthur blew out a small puff of air. “If you say so.”

Merlin took a deep breath and swallowed down a petulant reply. He held up his hand. “Alright, I can see you’re a little put out.” 

Arthur’s eyes bulged. “Put out? You broke into my home, you broke my dog…”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything to him-”

“ _Her_.” Arthur corrected with more force than Merlin thought was warranted.

“ _Her_. I didn’t do anything to your dog.”

“Oh, no.” Arthur put the phone down and pointed at Kilgharrah. “Ordinarily, she would have had been crushing your balls with her teeth, instead she was licking your face when I walked in here.”

Merlin suppressed the urge to giggle. He’d never pictured Arthur for one to use the term “balls.” He looked at Arthur and shrugged slightly. “I guess I have a way with animals.”

Arthur picked up the phone again. “Then perhaps you should have taken up a career in a veterinary field instead of being a thief.”

“I’m not a thief.” Merlin looked at himself and had to grant Arthur the point. “But I can see why you would assume that, but I promise I’m not here to steal anything. We just wanted a little information.”

“Information?” Arthur quirked his eyebrow in a way that reminded Merlin of his boss, Gaius. “If you want information go to a library. You don’t...” Arthur trailed off and put the phone down again. In two quick strides he was an arm’s length away from Merlin. “‘We.’ You said ‘we.’” Arthur raised his sword and put it under Merlin’s chin. “Who else is here?”

As if on cue, Will almost burst in. “I couldn’t find...Oh, shite!”

Kilgharrah growled at Will. 

Will squawked when he noticed the big dog.

Arthur whirled around. “Who the fuck are you? What were you doing up there? Who were you looking for?”

Will looked between Merlin and Arthur. “N-nothing...I didn’t find anything.”

Arthur let out a tense breath. “Good,” he said under his breath.

The relief was clear on Arthur’s face. Merlin just wasn’t sure what he had been so nervous about. He didn’t have time to contemplate that further when Arthur turned to him.

He looked into Merlin’s eyes for a moment. Nervous, Merlin looked down. He was sure Arthur didn’t recognize, but the way he was looking at him felt familiar.

Merlin was fairly sure Arthur did not harbor the same kind of crush that Merlin had on him, but every now and then in class he would catch Arthur looking at him so intensely. It excited and unnerved him at the same time. Merlin had never said anything about it. 

Arthur looked between Merlin and Will before his shoulders slumped and he walked toward the desk. “Just go.”

Merlin blinked. “What?”

Arthur shot him a look that he was becoming painfully familiar with - an “Are you really this stupid?” look. “I said to go. You didn’t take anything, so just go.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Will said. He was far too cheerful for the situation they were in. 

Will skirted around a still growling Kilgharrah, who didn’t advance toward him but made it quite clear that if Will made any wrong moves, he could say goodbye to his balls.

Merlin looked over at Arthur as he started to leave. He was now slumped in the red high-backed chair and he was beckoning Kilgharrah to him. 

Kilgharrah didn’t go to Arthur, but trotted toward Merlin and licked his hand. Merlin petted her head softly. “You’re such a good dog, Killy.”

Arthur’s head snapped up. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Merlin muttered.

“Come on,” Will yelled from outside.

Merlin stopped in the doorway. “I am really sorry.”

“You’re lucky I’m feeling generous. Maybe you’ll think twice about breaking into someone else’s home.”

Merlin wanted to assure him this would never happen again, but chose not to say anything else. Arthur probably wouldn’t believe him anyway. He looked at Kilgharrah one more time before he left.

Merlin and Will didn’t say anything for at least five minutes. They made sure they were as far away as possible from Arthur’s house. 

“Can you believe that guy had a sword? What a nutter,” Will said as he finally broke the silence.

Merlin stopped in his tracks. “We narrowly escape prison and that’s the only thing you’re thinking about?”

“Not the only thing. But it was really weird, right?” 

Merlin sighed. He went to run his hands through his hair and realized that he was still wearing the ridiculous mask. He ripped it off. “Looks like your all-knowing boss really cocked things up. Arthur must actually live here.”

Will took off his mask and rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s true.” He looked up at Merlin and grinned. “But look on the bright side, it probably means he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

Merlin threw back his head and groaned. “As if that matters. If Arthur ever finds out I was the one who broke in...ugh! Some of the things I said..” Merlin suddenly gasped. “I just kept talking. He’s going to remember my voice.”

Will threw his arm around Merlin. “No, he’s not. He’s a teacher, he’s not Sherlock Holmes.” Will squeezed his shoulder. “You never talk to him in class, right?” He continued when Merlin nodded. “So, nothing has to change.”

Merlin supposed Will was right. But he still had a nagging feeling this was going to bite him in the ass, he just knew it.

He and Will walked back towards their bikes.

Merlin looked over at Will. “You really didn’t find anything?”

Will gripped the straps of his backpack. “I didn’t find Uther Pendragon.”

“No sign of him?”

Will shook his head slowly. “I told you I didn’t find anything.”

“So all of this was for nothing.” Merlin sighed. “It’s probably for the best.” He hated to think of the kind of story Edwin would have done. Arthur was having enough trouble in town without having to deal with the fallout of that kind of news.

Merlin groaned inwardly. Arthur’s feelings should be no concern of his. He did not have some silly crush. 

He looked over at Will. He didn't seem as disappointed as Merlin would have thought he would be. He wasn't sure if Edwin would give him another shot. "I'm sorry."

Will turned his head slowly. It was almost as if he hadn't heard Merlin. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I knew you were counting on this to help you get a promotion."

Will pursed his lips. He looked down with a shrug. "Don't count me out just yet. I'll find a way."

Merlin nodded and looked away. He didn't doubt Will had more than a few ideas of how to advance his career. He was just a little worried about how far he was willing to go. 

~*~

As Arthur blinked open his eyes slowly, he was momentarily confused by the wetness and stickiness he felt on his face. The wetness he realized came from the side of his mouth and he grimaced as he wiped the drool that had begun to accumulate. He hated when he drooled like that; it was a very unbecoming habit. 

When he tried to lift his head, he found the explanation for the sticky sensation he felt was because he currently had his head plastered against an old photo album. He gently lifted his head away from the clear plastic film that covered the old pictures. 

After dealing with the annoying thieves last night, he couldn’t go back to sleep. Even though he was sure that no one else would attempt to break-in, he still didn’t want to take any chances. He had begun to wonder if this was just the beginning. He had always known that moving back to Camelot came with it a lot of risks. 

Even though his family had left Camelot over a decade ago, under less than auspicious circumstances, he had hoped that most people would be willing to forget, or at least pretend that they’d forgotten what happened. But Arthur wasn’t completely naive. There were a lot of things he had prepared himself for when he’d come back three months ago - bad memories, dirty looks, a cold shoulder or two. But he had hoped there wouldn’t be any aggressive acts of hostility. Even though the boy who’d broken in had seemed relatively harmless, Arthur couldn’t be certain that he was being truthful. Thieves weren’t known for their honesty.

Arthur sighed as he thought back to the boy from last night. That was another reason that he couldn’t sleep the previous night. There was something familiar about him, which was why he had found himself looking at his family’s old photo album. It had been more depressing than Arthur had been prepared for. 

It was a thick book, but less than half of it was filled - the rest was just empty white space. His father had stopped taking any pictures or updating the album after his mother had died. And most of the pictures of his mother, Uther had taken for himself.

There was one picture that had caught Arthur’s attention. It was of when Arthur was seven years old and had just come back from his first day of school. His father had finally gotten his way and Arthur was attending the private school, Avalon Academy. Arthur hadn’t wanted to go there and just knew he wouldn’t make any friends.

He had been so excited when he had come home and his best friend and his family were there. His navy blue tie was off in an instant and he had playfully put it around the other boy’s neck. His suit jacket came off next. The two of them were both giggling and his mother had insisted on getting a picture of them. Arthur had put his little arms around the skinny, dark-haired boy and they both had beamed into the camera.

It was one of the last happy memories he’d had of his mother.

Arthur had taken the picture from the photo album and stared at it for more minutes than he cared to admit. The last thing he remembered, he was still clutching the picture when he fell asleep. But when he looked down the picture wasn’t in either hand. It wasn’t back in the album either. 

Arthur got up quickly and thought about where it could have gone to. Obviously it didn’t just grow legs and walk away on its own. Out of the two other people in the house, Arthur had a sneaking suspicion who the culprit was.

He walked onto the patio outside to the corner where Kilgharrah was curled up in her red doggie bed. As Arthur kneeled down, he spotted Kilgharrah with her head down on top of the picture.

Arthur shook his head. “Oh, Killy, I think you’ve picked up some bad habits from that thief last night.” 

Arthur reached into the bed and tried to pluck out the picture. Kilgharrah put her paw over it. Arthur narrowed his eyes. “Hey, give it back. You’re already on thin ice for befriending a thief last night. I don’t want to get tough, but you do realize I’m the one who gives you treats?”

Kilgharrah whined softly and removed her paw.

Arthur grinned triumphantly as he took the picture. “Good choice.”

Kilgharrah stared up at him with big, pathetic brown eyes and a slight pout. Arthur closed his eyes and sighed. “I should stay mad at you. Why can’t I ever do that?” He reached out and stroked the top of her head.

He stood up and went back inside as he stared at the picture. He was so relieved that nothing had happened to it. He was just heading over to put it back in the album when he heard thundering footsteps coming down the stairs. A few seconds later, his father burst into the study.

He looked around frantically, until his gaze landed on Arthur. He rushed toward him. “Arthur, she’s gone!”

Arthur stumbled slightly as his father clutched desperately to his shoulders. Arthur hadn’t a clue what he could be referring to. “Father, I don’t understand. She…”

“Your mother,” Uther whispered urgently. 

After everything in his father’s history that shouldn’t be too shocking to hear, but Arthur couldn’t help the surprise and the sinking feeling in his stomach. As far as Arthur knew, Uther’s last hallucination was years ago. Arthur didn’t know how to let his father down easy. 

Before he could respond, Uther shook his head violently. “I’m sorry that’s not what I meant. It’s not your mother. Your mother’s wedding ring is gone. I took it out last night and it was right by my bed.”

Arthur turned away and ran his hands through his hair. How could he be so stupid to let those two go last night? He was taken in by that boy and his inept rambling and those eyes…

“And-and _Katherine_ , she - it - it’s gone, too.” Uther interrupted his thoughts.

Arthur furrowed his brow for a moment, before realization quickly hit. “The book.”

“Your mother’s book.” Uther corrected. “It’s not in my room. It was in my chair by the window and it’s gone now. I don’t know where it could have gone. Did you take it?”

“No. I…” Arthur groaned inwardly. He had been so relieved last night when he had found his father asleep in the garden. He had clearly missed the night’s excitement and Arthur had thought he wouldn’t need to concern his father with it.

Taking his mother’s ring was bad enough, but the book might have been even worse. The book meant a great deal to his father. It was why he had talked to his mother for the first time. She had let him borrow it and wrote him a sweet note on the first page. They passed the book back and forth, each adding different notes in the margin for the other.

After Uther was institutionalized, he had clung to the book as a sort of safety blanket. His father had told him it was one of the only things that helped him cling to his mother’s memory and what little sanity he had left. 

He owed it to his father to make this right. If Arthur couldn’t get that book back, he didn’t know how Uther would react. But how was he going to get it back? He had no idea who had stolen it. Though, when he thought about it some more he realized that wasn’t entirely true. 

He looked back at his father, who was running his hands through his hair, making the unruly mess on top his head, even messier. Arthur grabbed his father’s hands. “Father, I’m so sorry."

"You did take it?" Uther asked with so much hope Arthur's heart broke.

"No. There were people here last night...and I think they took it."

Uther shook his head. "People? What people?"

Arthur swallowed. "Two thieves."

Uther gasped. "How-how did they get in? Why? Why would they come here?" He looked up at Arthur with wide eyes. "Do you think they know I'm here?"

Arthur vehemently shook his head. "No. They were just common thieves. I... I thought they were harmless. I should have called the police."

Uther laid his hand gently on Arthur's shoulder. "It's alright, Arthur. I know you were just trying to protect me. The police here probably wouldn't do a thing to help our family."

Uther stared into space for a second and his eyes clouded over. He walked over and leaned against the desk. "They're gone, then? You can't get them back."

Arthur walked to his father and took his hands. "No. I will get them back. I swear it."

Uther only looked mildly soothed.

Arthur closed his eyes and thought back to the boy from last night. As much as he wanted to make this right for his father, a part of him really hoped he was wrong about who could have possibly done this. 

He couldn't have changed that much. Could he have?

~*~

As he reached the large tan building that was Camelot University’s English building, Merlin’s nerves began to become even more frayed - even though he didn’t know how that was possible. He’d been on edge ever since they’d left the Pendragon house - actually, even before then. 

Despite Will’s assurances that everything would be fine, Merlin hadn’t slept a wink that night. Surprisingly, Will had been up before Merlin and had left before Merlin. He must have had to report to his boss. He didn’t know how Edwin would take the news Will had failed to gain any information about Uther Pendragon.

Merlin’s steps faltered and his pace slowed considerably as he got closer to class. He tried to convince himself that he had nothing to worry about. Sure, he was about to head into class and face the man whose house he'd broken into - and whose dog he'd apparently broken, but it’s not like Arthur knew that it was Merlin last night. 

After taking a deep breath, Merlin walked into class and quickly took his seat. He had bent down to retrieve the assigned book for class from his orange backpack, when he heard the door to the classroom open. When he looked up, he saw Arthur headed toward the teacher’s desk. That was odd. 

Normally, Arthur didn’t get there before Professor Monmouth. Perhaps the professor was just running late? Merlin was extremely skeptical of that. Professor Monmouth was so punctual you could set your watch by him.

The sweat didn’t begin to bead along his forehead until Arthur began to write on the whiteboard in the front of the room. 

As everyone in class settled down, Arthur turned to them. “Professor Monmouth has had an emergency and will not be able to conduct the class discussion today. So, unfortunately, you will have me to deal with today."

Merlin did not whimper out loud. He absolutely did not. He did slump down gracelessly in his seat, as if that would somehow hide him from view. Merlin closed his eyes and was sure that Arthur would call on him at any moment. Merlin always thought that he didn’t particularly have a talent for lying and was sure that the second he opened his mouth, he would confess everything. 

But to Merlin’s surprise, and relief, Arthur didn’t call on him. In fact, Arthur didn’t even look in his direction. Merlin was sure it was just his paranoia, but it seemed like something Arthur was doing deliberately. 

It bothered Merlin slightly, but it did manage to soothe his nerves enough that he stopped fearing what would happen if Arthur noticed him, and started paying attention to the lecture.

Merlin was impressed. Arthur, with his chiseled features, perfect sun-kissed blonde hair, and lithe swimmer's’ body, was clearly a good-looking man. But beyond his physical attributes Merlin wasn’t sure what to think of him. Though last night, he had started to think that Arthur was a bit of a snobby prat.

While Merlin was sure the professor wouldn’t have chosen a teaching assistant of limited intelligence, he was happy to see for himself just how smart he really was. His observations about the book they were reading, _A Death in the Family_ , were keen and made Merlin see things that he hadn’t before. Not only was Arthur a highly capable lecturer, he also commanded the lesson with ease and with more than a little humor, which was hard given the subject matter of the book.

To his surprise, when Arthur started taking questions from the class, Merlin was one of the first to volunteer, but Arthur still didn’t acknowledge his existence.

Instead, Arthur picked on the boy next to Merlin. Valiant was a fourth year student. Merlin didn't have many dealings with him, other than sharing a couple of classes with him, but he'd seen him around him long enough to classify him as a gigantic wanker. He was someone who went out of their way to pick on people for simply breathing on him wrong.

“Yes, Valiant,” Arthur said.

Valiant stood up. “I think how the author has the different characters react to the father’s death is very realistic.” 

Arthur didn’t say anything, just nodded for Valiant to continue.

“Not everyone reacts to death the same way. Some turn to religion like the mother Mary. Some try to find any logic in the experience and don’t know how to react like the little boy, Rufus.” Valiant paused and Merlin saw his eyes narrow slightly as he looked directly at Arthur. “And there are some who use their grief as an excuse to turn on their friends and then get sent to a mental institution.”

Merlin had no idea what Valiant was talking about. Nothing like that had happened in the book. When Merlin looked around the classroom at the other students some looked just as confused as him. But there were some that either barely held in their laughter and others that grimaced and squirmed uncomfortably in their seats.

When Merlin turned his attention to the front of the class, Arthur’s expression was blank, but Merlin could see he was clenching his fists and his eyes were cast slightly downward. 

“Isn’t that right, _Mr. Pendragon_?” Valiant prodded. 

Arthur squared his shoulders when he finally looked back at Valiant. “That has been known to happen. People lose touch with reality.”

“Or,” Valiant said as he picked up his bag and stalked toward Arthur, “people fake a breakdown so they can get off from facing what they've done."

You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom. While Arthur still seemed calm outwardly, there was a part of Merlin that had the strong desire to stand up and defend him. But from what, he still wasn’t sure.

“You need to take your seat, Mr. Mellor,” Arthur's voice was eerily calm.

“I don’t think so. Other people may want to pretend that they don’t know what you and your family are, but I refuse. You’re a disgrace and I refuse to pretend that you have any business teaching this class.” Valiant started to walk away.

“That’s fine. You can miss as many courses as you like. It’ll just take you that much longer to graduate. But I’m sure plenty of people saw that coming.” Arthur didn’t even turn to look at Valiant, as he walked over to the desk.

A murderous rage filled Valiant’s eyes. Merlin saw him start to rush toward Arthur. Merlin was about to get up, when another boy from the back of the class rushed towards Valiant. Merlin didn’t recognize him or know his name.

“Oy, mate.” He got in front of Valiant. He looked back at Arthur. “It’s not worth it.”

Valiant seethed and his chest heaved as he tried to calm down. His friend grabbed his shoulders and pushed Valiant toward the door. 

"You should have never come back here," Valiant shouted in parting.

After they were both gone, there was nothing but silence. No one seemed to know what to do, including Arthur.

After a minute he stood up and leaned his hands against the desk. He started to speak, but stopped himself. He hung his head briefly and then looked up again. “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to cut this lecture short. Professor Monmouth should be back in a couple of days. In the meantime, the professor has assigned you an essay to work on. You are to write on the theme of religion in the story and the impact it has on the character’s lives. It is to be no less than two pages. It should be turned in, either online or in person, before the next class meeting.” Arthur tapped his fingers against the desk. “That is all.” He sat down.

Most of the students quickly got their bags and began to file out of the room. Most threw surreptitious glances on their way out. Merlin was one of the last to leave. 

As he walked past Arthur at the desk, he thought about saying something. But aside from his worry over Arthur hearing his voice, he had no idea what he could say, and didn’t want to overstep his bounds. He gave Arthur a sympathetic nod instead.

“Mr. Emrys?” Arthur stopped Merlin at the door.

Merlin turned around slowly. 

“May I have a word?”

He slowly inched toward the desk, but made sure to keep his distance. A _word_ is the last thing he wanted to share with Arthur. He just stared at Arthur, waiting for him to talk. 

“You know this was my first class that I got to teach on my own?” He briefly glanced up at Merlin. “I thought it went rather well...for the most part.”

Merlin nodded and gave Arthur a thumbs up. He cringed instantly at the lame gesture.

“I suppose I should have expected that type of reaction, especially from someone like Valiant.”

Merlin grunted in agreement.

Arthur stared up at him. His gaze was unwavering. 

Merlin fidgeted and looked down at his shoes.

Arthur gave a vague gesture toward the door. “Do you know him?”

“Yes,” Merlin mumbled.

“Just from this class?”

Merlin shook his head and gave a lopsided shrug. “Mostly.”

Arthur leaned back in his chair and cocked his head to the side. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but didn't say anything.

Merlin wrung his hands. He felt like he was in one of those cartoons where you could see animated animals heart literally beating outside his chest. His heartbeat sounded so loud in his ears.

Arthur cleared his throat. "You're very intelligent, Merlin."

Merlin did an almost comical double take. "Really?" He wanted to slap his forehead so hard.

Arthur chuckled. "Don't sound so surprised. Professor Monmouth speaks very highly of you and I've graded some of your papers." He righted his chair and put his arms on the desk. "Your papers have been very insightful and you always speak with such passion about what you've read and connected with. I wish other students were like you."

Merlin was beaming with pride. He thought his face may split in half, he was grinning so wide. "

"It's why I'm so surprised at how quiet you are in class. I wish you'd open up and share more of your insights." Arthur picked up the book on his desk. "What did you think of _A Death in the Family_?"

"Was good." Merlin winced. He was sure Arthur must be re-evaluating that intelligent comment.

Arthur peered up at Merlin again and waited patiently for him to elaborate.

Merlin bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t get away with grunting or just giving a one word answer here. “It was really sad,” Merlin said in a fake gruff voice. He sounded like a poor man’s Batman.

Arthur quirked an eyebrow up. “Is there something wrong with your voice?”

“No," Merlin said in the fake voice again. He then cleared his throat. “No.” It came out as high-pitched squeak.

Arthur looked a bit uncomfortable, concerned, and a little bit amused. He pursed his lips and beat the book gently against the desk, as he nodded slowly. He looked at Merlin as if he was a puzzle he was trying to solve.

Suddenly, he got up and walked around his desk, with the book in his hands. He stopped in front of Merlin and leaned against the desk. “It wasn’t too grim?”

“No.” Merlin glanced up at Arthur briefly. “Obviously the subject matter is grim, but I like the writing style. It has so many beautiful, poetic moments.” Merlin clamped his mouth shut when he realized he might have been talking too much.

“Can you relate to any of the characters?”

“Not really. Thankfully, I haven’t had much experience with death.”

Arthur's mouth formed a thin line. “You’re very lucky.” He turned around.

“I take it you have a lot of experience with it?” Merlin tried to tread carefully.

“Yes.”

“Is that what Valiant’s tirade was about?” When Arthur didn’t say anything, or turn around, Merlin worried that he’d upset him.

Arthur turned around suddenly. “My mother died when I was seven. To say my father took it badly would be an understatement.”

“Oh,” Merlin whispered. The inane response was all Merlin could think to say. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.”

When Arthur continued to stare at him, Merlin became slightly uncomfortable. He thought briefly about asking him why he would stare at him like that occasionally, but he didn’t have the nerve. “Why did you want my opinion specifically, Mr. Pendragon?”

“I told you. You’re very smart, Merlin.” He stood up straight and sidled up a little closer to Merlin. “And might I say, now that I’ve gotten a chance to hear it, you have a very distinctive voice.

Merlin’s eyes widened and he backed up. “No, I don’t.”

Arthur cocked his head to the side and appraised Merlin for a few more moments before he sniffed and walked away towards the large window on the left side of the room. He drew the blinds up.

Merlin had to shield his eyes from the bright glare from the sun. 

“Gaius speaks very highly of you.”

“You know Gaius?” Merlin replied in surprise. Gaius was an old family friend and was Merlin’s boss.

“He’s an old family friend.” Arthur returned to his desk. “You’re a good student and a good worker. You’re also here on a scholarship. I would hate for you to do anything that would jeopardize your future here.”

Merlin’s stomach knotted painfully. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Arthur took a seat. “Good, then keep it that way.” He nodded towards the door. “That’s all.”

Merlin was freaked out, and more than a little annoyed at being dismissed. He walked to the door with shaky legs. 

“Oh, and Merlin?” Arthur called out to him.

Merlin clutched the frame of the doorway. 

“If you have done something unwise, it’s not too late to make things right.”

Merlin cast a quick look over his shoulder. Arthur wasn’t looking at him. He shuffled some papers around on his desk. Merlin left and closed the door behind him. 

~*~

Will had been sitting outside Edwin’s office for almost a half an hour. He kept biting his nails and Edwin’s assistant Morgause gave him a dirty look every time. Will could see Edwin on the phone. He had yet to look at Will or acknowledge his presence.

Will was annoyed. Worse was that the longer he sat there, the guiltier he felt. He should have never asked Merlin to help him. Now Merlin could get in as much trouble as him and he didn’t do anything. Though Will tried to ease his conscience by thinking about the fact that he hadn’t asked Merlin to come along, and knowing Merlin, he never would have left when he knew what Will was up to.

But, knowing Merlin, Will knew that Merlin would never approved of what Will had done, which was why Will had lied to him about having found anything. Stealing didn’t exactly sit well with him, but he was more upset about having lied to his best friend.

Will's thoughts were interrupted when he felt someone standing above him. He looked up to see his boss looking down on him with his version of a smile.

Edwin just cocked his head toward his office and didn't wait for Will as walked into his office. 

Will quickly got up and followed him. Edwin sat down and Will stood straight in front of him with his hands behind his back.

“So what do you have to tell me today?” Edwin asked as he clasped his hands in his lap.

Will hurriedly reached inside his bag and fumbled for a minute. "You asked me to find out if Uther is back and staying at the old Pendragon mansion." He pulled out a black paperback book and placed it on the desk. 

Edwin looked down at the book and slowly turned his gaze to Will. "A book?"

Will also plucked out a ring and placed it next to the book. "I found them at the old mansion. Merlin and I went there last night, and it was relatively easy-"

Edwin glanced up at him briefly. “Relatively?”

“Well, it turned out you were wrong," Will muttered. "Arthur does live there. Merlin was caught by him - and his dog - but we were wearing masks and he has no idea who we were,” Will explained.

“And?” Edwin prodded.

“And what?” Will replied blankly.

Edwin gritted his teeth. “I asked you to find Uther Pendragon. What good is a _book_ and a ring going to do me?”

“Oh, right!” Will gasped. “Well, we weren’t there for very long. I didn’t see anyone else. But,” Will picked up the book, “this book has Uther and Ygraine Pendragon’s names all over it. And there’s a picture of her inside.”

Edwin sat up and looked at the book with interest. He took it from Will.

“And I think the ring belonged to Uther’s wife. There’s an inscription inside.”

Edwin picked up the gold band and read aloud. “All my love, Uther.” He looked up at Will and a small grin formed. “This is good work, Will.”

Will smiled.

The grin fell from his face. “But it’s not enough.”

Will frowned. “What?”

“Don’t be mistaken this is a good start. But it’s not enough proof. This could just as easily be Arthur’s.” 

Will shook his head. “From the little you’ve told me about, Uther, I don’t think he would have parted with his wife’s ring.”

Edwin sat back in his seat. “I believe you’re right. That’s why we need to learn more.”

“We?” 

Edwin leaned forward and nodded. “This is our story now, Mr. Gaines. We have much to do.”

~*~ 

Merlin rushed into Camelot Veterinary Hospital where he worked. Thanks to his meeting with Arthur, he was late for the first time ever. As soon as he stepped inside he had to clasp his hands over his ears. The dogs were barking like mad. One of the vets, Lance, was busy attending to a cat on an exam table - the lone cat there.

“Can’t you get them to be quiet?” Merlin shouted.

Lance just grinned up at him. “I’m a little busy, Merlin. They’ll probably calm down as soon as I’m done with this cute little one here.” Lance scratched the fluffy white cat - Mrs. Featherstone - behind the ear.

Their boss Gaius walked into the room. He looked around the room as he quirked his eyebrow higher than Merlin had ever seen, and all of the dogs instantly quieted.

Merlin’s mouth dropped open a little. It wasn’t the first time he’s seen Gaius do that, but it still unnerved him. There were times he was sure that Gaius must have some kind of magical powers.

Gaius put some supplies down on the table behind Lance. “You’re late, Merlin.”

“Sorry, Gaius. I got held up by my teacher in English.” Merlin walked over to help Gaius. “Actually, not my teacher, the teaching assistant.”

Gaius looked over at him. “Arthur Pendragon? What happened to Geoffrey? It’s not like him to miss a class.”

Gaius was also friends with his English professor, Mr. Monmouth. Merlin was starting to think Gaius knew everyone in town. “I don’t know. Arthur just said he had an emergency,” Merlin replied. “I didn’t know that you knew Arthur. He said that you’ve talked to him about me.”

Gaius nodded. “His father was one of my students when I taught at the university. How was Arthur’s first lecture?”

Merlin shrugged. “It was alright. Well, that is until one of the other students attacked him.”

Gaius immediately stopped what he was doing. “Attacked him?”

“Not a physical attack,” Merlin clarified. “A verbal attack. Something about what happened after Arthur’s mother died.”

Gaius frowned deeply. “Poor boy. I was afraid something like this might happen. I would have hoped others wouldn’t judge Arthur for things he had no control over.”

Merlin’s curiosity was peaked. He hadn’t wanted to press Arthur for any details, but he really wanted to know what it was that his father had done.

Gaius got finished stocking the supplies and moved away and headed down the hallway toward his office.

After another minute of thinking it over, Merlin followed him. He picked at his nails and hesitated. 

Gaius looked up at him and stared at him expectantly. “What is it, Merlin?”

“I was just curious…” Merlin started off haltingly. “What exactly happened with Arthur’s father? Arthur said that he reacted badly to his mother’s death, but not much more than that and I didn’t want to pry.”

“You were right not to.” Gaius answered, as he put his pen down. “It was a dark time for Arthur’s family - and for the town. We’ve done our best to put it behind us. I think it’s best not to rehash the details. If Arthur wants to tell you, then he can.”

Merlin was a bit disappointed, but he understood Gaius’s reasoning. When Merlin turned to leave, Gaius stopped him. “Merlin, Vivian West will be coming to pick up her dogs. I need you to clean out both Kate and Middleton’s cages.”

“Alright,” Merlin said as he left.

When he walked back past the exam room, he saw that Lance had Mrs. Featherstone in his arms and was stroking her soft fur as he put her back in her cage. He was smiling brightly the whole time.

Merlin smiled to himself. He’d never met a more positive person than Lance.

Merlin got to the back room, where most of the pets were kept and started to take down the Kate’s, the brown and white cocker spaniel, cage. 

“Let me help you with that,” Lance said.

Merlin had it under control, but he didn’t mind the help. They set the cage down gently and Lance opened the cage and took Kate into his arms. 

Lance cooed at the cute little dog.

Merlin chuckled. “Is it my imagination or are you in a better mood than usual?”

Lance grinned. “Not your imagination.” He kissed the dog on top of her head. “I finally did it.”

“Did what?” Merlin said absently, as he got a rag and soap from the storage closet in the corner. Merlin stopped in his tracks suddenly. “Oh my God! You did it!”

Lance bounced happily. “She said yes.”

Merlin grinned. “Well, it would be odd for you to be so happy if Gwen turned you down.”

Lance looked a little embarrassed, but the smile didn’t leave his face. “Gwen is already planning the engagement party. And of course you’re invited.”

“I would be more than a little hurt if I wasn’t,” Merlin said cheerfully. He walked up to Lance and clasped him on the shoulder. “I’m very happy for the both of you.”

Lance hugged him. “Thank you, Merlin.”

~*~

Arthur waited outside Uther’s room for his nurse to finish checking up on him. Arthur closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall. Arthur didn’t know how it was possible, given that his father could teach seminars on how to be a recluse, but Uther seemed to be getting worse. 

Before, he would at least attempt to make conversation with Arthur and come out of his room and a couple of times a week he would take a walk around the backyard, but for the last few days he kept completely to his room and barely ate. 

During the next English class, Merlin had avoided Arthur’s gaze, and he shot out of class before anyone else, and before Arthur had a chance to call to him.

Despite that Arthur was sure that he was right about Merlin. He knew that Merlin had been one of the thieves that night. But he also knew that Merlin was a good person. Still, the more time went on that Merlin hadn’t done the right thing and returned what he had stolen - or helped steal - and the worse that his father got Arthur knew that he needed to take more direct action. 

While he mused over the situation, Gwen Smith came out of his father’s room. She smiled at Arthur. 

Arthur pulled away from the wall and stepped toward her. “How is he?”

“Physically, he’s fine,” Gwen answered in a calm voice, but her face clearly expressed worry.

“And otherwise?”

Gwen shook her head. “He seems to be depressed, which while not ideal, is nothing new. May I ask what brought it on this time?”

“Someone stole some important things of my father’s.” Arthur exhaled loudly. 

“Stolen?” Gwen exclaimed. “Who would do that?”

“Take your pick, Gwen. You know how people feel about my family in this town,” Arthur said as he rubbed his forehead tiredly.

“But no one knows Uther’s back in town. If someone was trying to hurt you, wouldn’t they have taken something of yours and not his?”

That thought had occurred to Arthur, but he had just chalked it up to a coincidence. If anyone knew Uther was back in town, they would have heard about it by now.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. The only thing I do know is I promised my father I would get back what was taken.

“What did they take?” Gwen asked as they began to walk away from Uther’s room.

“They took my mother’s wedding ring.”

Gwen frowned and shook her head.

“ And they took a book - _Katherine._ ” 

“Oh, no.” Gwen gasped.

Arthur was a bit surprised at Gwen’s reaction. “You remember when I told you about that?”

Gwen nodded with a rueful grin. “Yes. It’s a bit hard to forget. We had that conversation about your parents and how much they loved each other. Then a couple of days later, you were dumping me.”

Arthur grimaced as they walked into the brightly lit kitchen, the one room in the house that didn’t look like it was decorated by a depressed, color blind designer. 

Gwen and Arthur had met in college. They had dated for a couple of months, which was Arthur's longest relationship. But, it inevitably ended when Arthur realized he couldn't keep denying who really was.

He was grateful that he and Gwen had been able to remain friends. Their friendship was strong enough that when she found out Arthur was moving back to Camelot, she offered to let him and her father stay with her while Arthur made their old house uninhabitable.

Gwen had even offered to act as Uther's nurse, which saved Arthur considerable time and money trying to find someone who he could trust to keep Uther's presence in town under wraps.

Arthur smiled at her as he leaned back against the refrigerator. “I’m not sure I would call it dumping you.”

“What would you call it?” Gwen said as she smiled and took a seat at the black breakfast nook in the center of the room.

“I would call it...a hastening of the inevitable. I would say that we weren’t together long enough to call what I did dumping you,” Arthur said as he poured water into the kettle. “Besides we weren’t meant to be. You belong with Lance, and I’m…”

“Gay,” Gwen finished.

Arthur shrugged. “Well, yes there’s that as well. See, bad match.”

Gwen and Arthur smiled at each other.

Arthur gently placed a cup down in front of Gwen. 

“You are right about Lance and me.” Gwen said as she clutched the cup in front of her.

“There was never a more perfect couple,” Arthur said without any trace of envy. He’d introduced the two after all. “I think getting you two…” Arthur trailed off and his eyes widened. “Oh, my God. I am a complete tosser, aren’t I?”

Gwen chuckled in surprise. “Where did that come from?”

“It comes from me being absolutely blind. How did I not see that rock that’s about to break your finger in half?” Arthur pointed at her left hand.

“I didn’t want to bring it up before. But it is a bit brilliant isn’t it?” Gwen beamed.

“When did he ask?” Arthur took her hand. 

“A few days ago. I’ve already started planning the engagement party,” Gwen said almost in embarrassment. 

“Am I invited?” Arthur asked as the kettle began to whistle.

“Of course. Perhaps it’ll be your one social engagement of the week.”

Arthur filled her cup and grinned. “Is that some kind of veiled comment about my social life?”

“No.” Gwen shook her head. “Not veiled at all.”

Arthur laughed good-naturedly.

Gwen’s smile faltered a tad. “I am serious, Arthur. Just because your father refuses to leave the house doesn’t mean you need to as well. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“I’m not alone.”

“Arthur, I’m sorry, but I don’t think your father counts as company.”

“I didn’t mean my father.” He pointed at a sleeping Kilgharrah. “I have Killy.”

Kilgharrah lifted up her head and stared at Arthur for a second, before she rested her head back against the floor.

Gwen tittered quietly into her cup. 

“She’s just a little sore with me right now. She’ll be friendlier later,” Arthur assured Gwen.

~*~

Merlin finally had an afternoon off from his work at the hospital. He had wanted to spend some time with Will, but Will was out. Merlin assumed he was doing something at the newspaper, since that’s where he seemed to spend most of his time lately. 

Even though he had the day off, he decided he would go to the vet hospital anyway. It seemed a little pathetic and sad to be spending his day off at his job, but he could always hang out with Lance or Gaius. And he loved being around the animals. Most of them were sick, or had an injury of some kind, and they loved when anyone spent time with them. 

Just as he shut the front door to his and Will’s flat, his cellphone rang. He smiled when he saw the name on his caller id. “Hey, mom.”

“Hello, my sweet boy. How are you?” Hunith responded with her warm voice, which always reminded Merlin of home and made him miss Ealdor terribly.

“I’m good.”

“Will’s not getting you into any troublesome situations, is he?” She sounded stressed.

Merlin sighed. He knew his mother meant well, and she loved Will dearly, but she always asked him the same question. “Mom, Will and I are both fine. Our grades are fine. The flat is fine. So to sum it all up - everything is fine.”

“Are you sure about school?”

Merlin knew what she meant by that. He wasn’t lying when he said his grades were fine. But he was in his second year, and he’d already changed his major three times. Honestly, he still wasn’t sure about what he’d chosen, but he was too scared to change it again. Both of his parents, especially his father, took this as troublesome sign for Merlin’s future. Merlin wouldn’t admit it to them, but it worried him, too.

“I’m sure, mom.” Merlin walked over to his bike and pulled out his helmet. “I can’t wait for you and dad to come up next week.”

“I’m looking forward to it as well.”

Merlin ran his teeth along the bottom of his lip. “And dad?”

His mother paused. “Why don’t you talk to him?”

Merlin heard a brief rustling sound as his mother passed the phone over to his father. “Son,” his father said simply.

“Dad? I was just asking mum about coming up here to Camelot.”

“Yes.”

Merlin wasn’t sure how to interpret his silence, but as he tended to do, his mind went to the worse scenario. “You’re still coming to Camelot, aren’t you?”

His father just breathed a bit heavier over the phone. “Did you get the money you mother and I sent...for your rent?”

“Yes, but, Father, you didn’t answer my question.” Merlin ran a hand through his hair and gripped a tuft of it painfully. “Father, I know that you had a difficult time when you went to school here…”

“It was more than a little difficult, and you know that.” Balinor said stridently. 

“No, I don’t know actually since you refuse to tell me what exactly happened.” He’d asked his father several times, but he always said the past was in the past, and he’d rather not talk about it. 

“The only thing you needed to know was that Camelot is a dangerous place. It changes you and it corrupts you. I told you this, but you wouldn’t listen. You just had to go to school there, against my wishes.”

“Because what you’ve said doesn’t make any sense. No matter what happened, that doesn’t make the entire town evil. It’s not going to change me, not for the worse anyway.”

Balinor sighed. He sounded dejected and resigned. “You don’t know that. You could find yourself doing things you never thought you would.”

Merlin leaned against the brick wall by his bike as he thought about breaking into Arthur’s house. He shook his head. It didn’t mean he was becoming corrupted. He was trying to help a friend. His father was wrong. Merlin was sick of having this argument with him. “Father, I just want to know if you’re coming or not?”

After a long pause, his father practically whispered his answer. “Yes.”

“Brilliant. I’ll see you next week then. Tell Mom I love her. Bye.”

“Good-bye, son.”

Merlin hung up. He immediately put his head in his hands. If just a phone conversation with his father was that taxing, he was starting to dread the idea of being with him for hours in person.

~*~

Arthur was starting to regret his decision to take Kilgharrah out for a walk in the park. She was usually a very docile, gentle animal - especially when she was on the leash, but for some reason, ever since they stepped on the grounds of the park, she’d been pulling Arthur to and fro. Finally, Arthur had enough and knelt down to talk with her face to face. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of letting go of the leash. Kilgharrah was a blur after that as she raced off.

Thankfully, the park wasn’t overly crowded, which made sense since the sky was so overcast; it looked like it would rain at any moment. It should be easy to find her. And it was. Arthur was just surprised at who he found her with.

Kilgharrah was on top of Merlin, who laughed and squirmed. Arthur couldn’t help the smile on his face as he heard his laugh. Suddenly, he was taken back to when he was a boy and when he would tickle his best friend. The boy with the big ears and the even bigger smile.

Arthur pressed his fingers to his eyes and returned to the present. He marched forward. “Kilgharrah.” He called and snapped his fingers, which was stupid since she never responded to that.

Merlin instantly stopped laughing, even though Kilgharrah proceeded to lick his face. Merlin looked up at Arthur. “Arthur, I mean, Mr. Pendragon…” Merlin giggled again.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Arthur is fine.”

“I’m sorry. I was just walking and this beautiful dog just jumped on me.”

“Kilgharrah!” Arthur called to her again. She still would not budge. 

Merlin finally managed to sit up. He started to stroke Kilgharrah’s head. She wagged her brown tail excitedly.

“Are you...are you alright?” Arthur asked Merlin.

“Yeah,” Merlin answered. “She didn’t knock me down too hard and I’ve been told I have a fairly thick head.”

“I’ll bet,” Arthur muttered.

Merlin stood up. 

“Kilgharrah, come here.” Arthur knelt down and patted at the ground next to him.

Kilgharrah looked between Arthur and Merlin, and stepped closer to Merlin. Arthur cursed under his breath. That dog had such a stubborn streak.

Merlin patted her on the backside and pointed at Arthur. “Go on, Killy. Go!”

Kilgharrah hesitated and looked up at Merlin before she trotted gingerly over to Arthur.

Arthur gritted his teeth. Of course she listened to him.

Merlin shrugged sheepishly. “I work with animals. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they don’t.”

Arthur scratched Kilgharrah by the ear. She proceeded to lie down on her back. Even though Arthur didn’t want to reward her bad behavior, he started to scratch her belly. 

He glanced up at Merlin and looked at him from top to bottom. It had the desired effect, and Merlin started to squirm where he stood.

“It’s odd. Kilgharrah doesn’t tend to take to strangers, but you’re the second stranger she’s met that she’s taken to instantly.”

Merlin clearly stiffened.

“Isn’t that funny?” 

“Well...dogs can be mercurial like that,” Merlin bit his lip and looked down. “So, I’m going to be off.”

“Wait!” Arthur yelled. Enough was enough. He raced over to Merlin. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can you just admit it, please?”

Merlin stuck his hands on his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Look, I know you’re getting very good at acting thick. Or I don’t know, perhaps it’s not actually an act, but I need to you to be honest with me. I know that you broke into my house.”

“Wow, two insults.” Merlin bristled. “I don’t know which to be more offended by.”

“You don’t get to be offended by either because you’re not innocent.” Arthur crossed his hands over his chest. 

Merlin just kept nodding his head. He was clearly having trouble coming up with something to say. “Alright, if you’ve got this all figured out, what’s your proof?”

“For starters, I recognize your voice.”

“That’ll stand up in court,” Merlin scoffed.

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him. He stalked closer towards him. “And secondly, if I didn’t recognize your voice, your ears would have been a dead giveaway. You probably should have worn a mask that covered them up.” Arthur let out a mirthless laugh. “I can’t believe you still haven’t grown into those things.”

Merlin was about to say something - something probably insulting by the fury in his eyes - when he stopped and did a double take. “What? What does that mean?”

Arthur turned around and looked down at Kilgharrah. She looked up at him blankly as if to say “What are you looking at me for?”

Arthur swiveled back around. “Don’t change the subject. The subject being that you’re a thief and now you’re adding lying on top of it.”

Merlin backed away and just stared at Arthur. “I’m going to have to ask you to stop insulting me.”

Arthur deliberately walked back up into Merlin’s personal space, which flustered him. “And I’m going to have to ask you to give me the book back.”

“A book?” It looked like Merlin was about to roll his eyes, but had the grace to stop himself. “That’s what this is about? Maybe you misplaced it in that great big mansion of yours.”

"Did I also misplace my mother's wedding ring, too?" Arthur asked through gritted teeth. "Because that's missing, too. They both conveniently up and vanished after you and your friend broke in. But I suppose that's just a coincidence?"

Merlin looked down and slowly ran a hand through his hair. He looked up at Arthur and his attitude was gone. He truly looked sick to his stomach. If Arthur didn't know any better he would say he looked surprised. "Arthur, I'm sorry."

Arthur blew out a breath. "I don't care about your apologies. I just want you to give them back. They're both irreplaceable. My mother - my _dead_ mother…” Arthur added. 

He felt bad that it gave him a charge to see Merlin wince at that. It was a good thing. To Arthur it meant that Merlin still had a conscience.

“My mother gave that book to my father. They wrote some very personal notes to each other in it. It means a great deal to me.”

Merlin opened and closed his mouth several times before speaking. “I didn’t…”

“Know?” Arthur finished for him. “I’m sure of that. I just need you to return it.”

“I…I can’t. I didn’t -”

“You’re not going to admit that you took it?”

Arthur could see so many emotions warring over Merlin’s features - chief among them remorse and sympathy. But it wasn’t enough.

“Even if I said that I did. I don’t know if I could give it back,” Merlin finally said.

“You’re not even going to try?” Arthur whispered.

Merlin picked up his hand and gestured uselessly.

“Oh, Merlin.” His heart truly ached. “You don’t know how much of a disappointment you are to me.”

Merlin’s mouth fell open slightly. It looked like he’d been punched in the face. Tears formed in his eyes. 

Arthur didn’t let himself be affected by it as he walked away. 

Kilgharrah stayed squarely in the middle of the both of them.

“Kilgharrah, come now!” Arthur’s voice shook with fury and Kilgharrah whimpered. She didn’t dare disobey him this time.

~*~

Merlin cheered happily and patted the small golden retriever - Samuel - on the head. Samuel looked just as happy as Merlin was. Merlin had just put on his first dog splint all on his own. It wasn’t the most complicated procedure in the world, but Merlin had been looking to take on more experience at the hospital and was so happy that he had finally done the procedure correctly.

Gaius and Lance had been there the whole time, but they didn’t say anything or interfere. 

It was a win that Merlin had desperately needed. Ever since he’d seen Arthur in the park, he couldn’t get Arthur’s parting words about Merlin being a disappointment out of his head. It was having a bigger effect on him than the words of someone who was basically a stranger had any right to.

It wasn’t what Arthur said so much that upset Merlin, though the word “disappointment” did sting. It was one of his greatest fears - being a disappointment, especially to his parents. But it was the way Arthur looked at him. He seemed just as devastated to say it as Merlin was to hear it.

Merlin didn’t understand why Arthur was having this effect on him. 

Compounding his sadness was contemplating what Will must have done. The likelihood of Arthur having misplaced both his mother's ring and that book were not good. Obviously Merlin knew he hadn't taken them. That only left Will.

Merlin was crushed on multiple levels. Will had done a lot of questionable things in his life, some which Merlin helped with, but they'd always been honest with each other. He couldn't believe Will would lie to his face like that - especially concerning something so major.

If Will had taken those things, he'd made Merlin complicit. He'd put Merlin in such a horrible position with Arthur. When Arthur had confronted him in the park and told him how much the things Will had taken meant to him, he wanted to tell Arthur the truth right there. 

But even after what Will may have done, Merlin couldn't do that to him. With how angry Arthur had been, what if he turned them into the police? 

Also, Merlin had no idea what Will had done with the ring or book. This was, after all, for Will's boss. If Will gave those things to Edwin who knows what he'd done with them. 

As soon as Arthur had walked away from him in the park, he'd called Will, but he didn't pick up. Merlin left several angry voicemail messages and had even gone over to _The Camelot Sun_ offices, but Will wasn't there and he hadn't shown up home before Merlin had to go to work.

Lance picked up Samuel and started to give him some treats.

Gaius patted Merlin on the back. “That was excellent work, Merlin. I think you’re a natural at this.”

“Thank you,” Merlin said proudly. 

“I know I’ve asked you this before, but have you given anymore consideration towards a future as a veterinarian?” Gaius asked.

Merlin sighed. He had thought about it. Obviously, he loved animals, and he was good with them. He just wasn’t sure if he could make an entire career out of it. At least not yet. “I’m still thinking about it.”

Gaius simply nodded. He picked up some of the bloody gauze and took it to the trash.

Merlin followed closely behind. “May I ask you something? It’s about Arthur.”

Gaius halted his steps briefly. “Merlin, I told you to ask him about his family’s history.”

“I know,” Merlin said quickly. “I just want to know what your opinion about him is.”

Gaius turned to look at him. His quirked eyebrow did the talking for him. He knew there was more to it than that.

“He confuses me. Sometimes I think he’s a prat. And I hear what some others have to say about him, and they tend to agree. Prat. But I feel like there's more there. I just don’t know what to make of him,” Merlin finished.

Gaius walked into his office. “I wouldn’t listen to idle gossip Merlin, about anyone. Arthur isn’t like how others see him. He has so much in common with his father - the bad as well as the good traits. Like his father he is a complicated man, but I think he’s worth getting to know.” Gaius patted Merlin’s shoulder. “But you’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

~*~

It had been hours since his run-in with Merlin in the park and Arthur still felt mostly numb. He sat by their garden and clutched the picture of him when he was eight years old with his best friend. From time to time he would stare at the image of his younger self, but more often than not he just held on to it.

He found himself flashing back to the last time he had seen the boy. Arthur had been eight years old. His friend was five years old, crying and confused as he and his family prepared to leave Camelot. Arthur hadn’t understood what was going on any more than he did. 

Arthur vividly remembered sobbing - it was as if he could still feel the tears against his cheek - as the dark-haired boy clung to him. The boy screamed in his ear as his father tore him away from Arthur. The last thing Arthur had seen of him was his tear-stained face as his father dragged him away.

Arthur set the picture down and wiped at an errant tear. He didn’t notice his father’s presence until Uther’s hand was against his and Uther picked up the picture.

Arthur gasped as he looked up at his father. “Father, what are you doing?”

Uther stared at the picture. He smiled briefly before he became stone-faced again. “I haven’t seen this picture in years. Feeling nostalgic?” 

Arthur thought briefly about continuing to keep this from Uther, but he didn’t see what would be the point. And truth be told, he really wanted to confide in someone about this. “Not exactly.” He stood up and faced his father. “He’s here.”

“He?” Uther furrowed his brow. 

Arthur pointed at the boy in the picture. “Merlin. He’s here.”

Uther dropped the picture and stared into Arthur’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

Arthur chuckled. “Yes. You think I’d ever mistake those ears for anyone else’s?” 

Uther smiled genuinely. “He looks the same?”

Arthur dropped back down into the cold black iron chair. “Basically. The same, just a little older. Same ears, same eyes, same smile.” Arthur sighed deeply. “Unfortunately, not everything’s the same.”

Uther sat down gingerly next to him. “What do you mean?”

Arthur glanced at his father out of the corner his eye. He thought about telling Uther about Merlin’s new side hobby as a thief, but he decided against that. Not because he was worried about Uther thinking badly of Merlin. God only knew Uther was in no position to judge. He just didn’t want to tell Uther about it when he still wasn’t sure what he was going to do about it.

Arthur shrugged. “He’s just not the same.”

“Of course he’s not.” Uther chided Arthur. “It’s been fifteen years. There’s certainly a lot about you that has changed. You certainly don’t hold your breath and pout when we don’t serve the dinner you want.”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “One time that happened and you never let me forget it.”

Uther and Arthur both laughed.

Arthur never thought in a million years that his father would be the one to lift his spirits today. It was nice having a somewhat normal moment with him.

Of course the moment couldn’t last.

“Do you think Balinor is here with him?” 

Arthur wasn't sure if his father sounded hopeful or afraid.

He shook his head. “Merlin’s here because he’s attending Camelot University. I don’t think his family came with him.”

Uther nodded. “I wouldn’t think so. I doubt Balinor would set foot here again. I’m astonished he allowed his son to attend school here.”

Arthur barely remembered Balinor, but from what he remembered of the last time he saw him, Arthur had to admit he was surprised as well. Merlin had to be strong to stand up to his father. 

Not strong enough to do the right thing, of course.

A thought occurred to Arthur, and he decided to ask while he still had his father alert and talking to him. “Father, what...what would you do if you saw Balinor again?”

Uther blinked and then his face slowly crumpled. He took a deep breath. 

Arthur put a hand over his father’s as he saw him struggle to maintain his composure. 

Uther opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He just shook his head repeatedly and walked away.

Arthur slapped his hand across his forehead. He should have known better than to ask that question.

~*~

Merlin scrubbed furiously at the floor. He had been cleaning for hours. It was mostly in preparation for his parent's arrival, but also to alleviate stress over the whole situation with Arthur and Will.

He decided the floor was as about as clean as it was going to be and he needed to head to bed. He stood up and picked up the yellow bucket filled with dirty water.

Before he could get to the kitchen, the front door slammed. He heard Will's stomping footsteps and watched as Will tracked in mud through the den.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Merlin screeched.

Will froze. "What?"

"I've been cleaning for hours and now look what you've done?" Merlin glared at Will. "Now I yet again have to clean up after you."

Will held up his hands. "It's just dirt, Merlin. Why are you going barmy over it?"

"As if you don't bloody well know." Merlin stalked over to Will. He groaned when the dirty water in the bucket splashed against his pants. He put the bucket down. "Or maybe you don't know because you haven't bothered to listen to your messages."

Will sighed and took his jacket off. "I did listen to them.”

“Oh, so you just didn’t bother answering me.” Merlin crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Will walked past him and sat on the couch. “I didn’t think there was any rush.”

Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to resist the urge to strangle Will. “Which part of my five messages didn’t convey how important it was for you to call me back? When I said it was an emergency or when I said it was urgent that I needed to speak with you?”

Will shrugged. “I’m not sure what else you need to tell me about what happened the other night?”

“You could start with telling me if you lied to me.” 

Will quickly looked up at him. “Lied about what?”

“Did you take anything from the Pendragon house?” Merlin almost held his breath. He was almost certain of Will’s guilt, but he still had hope he was wrong.

Will stood up. “Why would you think I took anything? I told you I didn’t.”

“Well, Arthur Pendragon begs to differ. He confronted me in the park today and said he knows I was there. He said you stole his mother’s wedding ring and some book,” Merlin explained.

Will let out a derisive snort. “Why would I steal some book? And how does he know you were there?”

“He said he recognized my voice.”

“That wouldn’t stand up in court.”

Merlin threw up his hands. “I don’t care about that. I just want to know if you took those things?”

“No.” He pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head.

Merlin ran a hand through his hair and tugged. He should have been relieved, but relief was far from what he was feeling. “I don’t understand then. Why would Arthur lie about that? He seemed so sure.”

Will turned his back to Merlin and walked over to the television. “I don’t know. Maybe he was trying to manipulate you.”

Merlin considered this briefly. He sighed. “I don’t think Arthur would do that. Gaius says he's a good person and you didn’t see him, Will. He was really upset.”

Will turned around and walked back to Merlin. “It’s possible it wasn’t Arthur’s idea. His father could be manipulating him, too.”

“His father? But you didn’t find him when we were at Arthur’s house.”

“I know. But Edwin seems to think there’s still a possibility he might be here. I didn’t have time to check the whole house.”

“It still doesn’t make sense.” Merlin rubbed his eyes. “Even if Uther is here, why would he tell Arthur we stole his wife’s ring and that book?”

Will put his arm around Merlin and led him to the couch to sit down. “Edwin told me some things about why Uther left. Do you know where he’s been since he left Camelot?”

Merlin shook his head. 

“He was in a mental institution for years. And this is after he killed someone.” 

Merlin gasped. “He killed someone?”

“Yeah. And then he got off scot free because he claimed to have a mental breakdown.” Will sneered.

“That’s what Valiant was talking about.” Merlin sat back.

“Valiant?”

“In class the other day, Valiant attacked Arthur. He accused Arthur’s dad of faking a breakdown.”

“That makes sense. Valiant and his family have lived in this town for years. They would know what Uther did.” Will took a deep breath. “Edwin thinks that Uther may be trying to keep up pretenses. Arthur has hired a nurse who comes by the house every day. Arthur doesn’t need a nurse, so she must be there for Uther. Edwin’s theory is that before he announces that he’s back in town, he wants to rehabilitate his image. He wants to play on people's sympathies about his wife’s death and tell people that he’s being attacked unfairly.”

Merlin blew out a long breath. "That's..."

"Twisted," Will finished. "That's the Pendragon's."

"Not all of them." Merlin didn't know why he was getting so defensive on Arthur's behalf.

"Maybe not. But who knows. The Apple may not fall so far from the tree."

Merlin bit his lip and nodded absent-mindedly. He got up. He was tired and needed to think.

Will grabbed his hand. "You believe me, yeah?"

"I believe you didn't take anything. I trust you with my life, Will. You wouldn't lie to me about something like that." Merlin pursed his lips and tried to give Will a reassuring look.

Will's hand slowly loosened its grip, but there seemed to be something nagging at him, but he didn't say anything. Finally he nodded. "Goodnight, Merlin."

"Night."

~*~

Will wrung his hand as he waited outside _The Camelot Sun_ office. He was determined to speak with Edwin before he could be stalled by his secretary. 

Will wasn't sure he'd ever been awake earlier in his life, but this couldn't wait. He could barely sleep last night. He was lying to Merlin more and more and the pit in his stomach was growing steadily every day.

As soon as Will saw Edwin walking toward the building, he ran to meet him in the middle. 

"I need the book and the ring back," Will said without preamble.

Edwin just narrowed his eyes.

"Right. Sorry. Hello. Good morning." He did an awkward bow. "Can...May I have them back?"

Edwin stepped inside without answering Will and Will scurried after him. After Edwin was seated in his office, he sat back in his chair and his secretary gave him a cup of coffee. He took a sip and then addresses Will. "We've been over this."

"I know." Will sat down. "I know you think if we hang on to these things Arthur or Uther might be forced to make a move which will give us some answers, but I don't know if that will work. Plus, I really don't want Merlin to get in trouble."

Edwin put his cup down. "Why would Merlin get in trouble?"

"Arthur confronted him yesterday. He said he recognized Merlin's voice. Merlin is worried and he feels guilty."

"Trust me, Will if Merlin knew what Uther had done, those feelings of guilt would vanish quickly."

Will ran his hands through his hair. "I told him about what you said."

Edwin steeples his hands under his chin and eyed Will for a long moment. "I have to admit, I wasn't entirely forthcoming about Uther's history. You don't even know the half of what that man has done."

~*~

Arthur awoke to Kilgharrah scratching at his door. It wasn’t often that Arthur slept with his door closed, mostly because of his father, but Kilgharrah had been acting up and barking incessantly and Arthur closed himself off to shut out the noise. 

When Arthur struggled to his feet and finally opened the door, Kilgharrah stared up at him mournfully. Arthur held the door open. Kilgharrah continued to stare.

“Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?” Arthur asked as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

Kilgharrah turned around and trotted off. 

“That bloody dog,” Arthur muttered. 

He tried to go back to sleep, but it wasn’t happening and after an hour he got up. After he brushed his teeth and got dressed, he decided to take a leisurely stroll through the back garden.

Arthur decided to ask his father if he wanted to join him, but before he could knock on his father’s door he noticed a light tinkling sound coming from downstairs. When he went downstairs, he found his father in the den beside the kitchen. He was seated at the piano, aimlessly stroking the keys. It was odd to see him there since his father had never really been musically inclined. 

“Father, what are you doing here?” Arthur slowly stepped into the room. 

Uther didn’t look up. He hit a few discordant notes. “Did you know your mother once tried to teach me how to play?”

After a few seconds of shock, Arthur’s lips quirked up at the corners. Uther didn’t often talk about Ygraine, but when he did Arthur relished every moment. He sat down by his father.

“She was the most patient person I ever knew, but after two hours she threw up her hands and called me the most tone deaf person she’d ever had the misfortune to lay ears on,” Uther said. There was a small smile on his face.

Arthur chuckled. 

“That was only the second time she’d lost her temper with me,” Uther explained.

“What was the first?”

Uther looked over at Arthur, and his smile drooped and became sadder. “The first day we met.” He sighed. “I was at the library and I heard a girl who seemed to be in distress. I found your mother in the stacks, clutching a book, and wiping tears from her eyes. I’d never seen anyone who looked lovelier, despite her tear-stained cheeks. I wanted to comfort her, so I tried to make a joke.”

Arthur snorted and tried to cover with a cough. His father was definitely not known for his sense of humor.

Uther didn’t get upset at Arthur’s reaction. “Yes, I’m not really known for my witty repartee so you can imagine how badly my attempt with your mother went. She assumed I was teasing her and lashed out at me. She called me an insensitive prat and stormed off.”

“Wow.” Arthur whistled. He’d never known their first meeting had been so contentious.

Uther looked down at the piano. “She was the first person who ever insulted me and she was the first person I ever truly felt bad about hurting, even though I hadn’t meant to.”

“It doesn’t sound like it was your fault,” Arthur reasoned.

“Your mother came to that same conclusion. She came back to the library the next day and sat down at my table. She apologized and as a peace offering let me borrow the book she was reading.”

“ _Katherine_ ,” Arthur whispered.

Uther nodded. He looked up at the ceiling. “I know it seems absurd but without that book, I feel like I’ve lost an important part of your mother I may never get back.”

Arthur wanted to reassure his father that wasn’t the case, but he knew he couldn’t make any promises.

Uther got up slowly and headed for the door.

“Father,” Arthur called to him. “I was going to take a walk in the garden. Perhaps you’d like to join me. The fresh air might do you some good.”

Uther contemplated this, but then shook his head slowly. “I’m too tired, Arthur.”

“Perhaps another time then?” 

Uther didn’t acknowledge Arthur’s last remark as he walked away.

Arthur threw his head back and closed his eyes. He felt guilty about so many things. He needed to make this right. He slammed the piano fall board down and buried his head in his hands. Arthur was so mad he could spit nails. A bit of that anger was directed at himself, but mainly it was all for Merlin.

Arthur soon felt Kilgharrah prodding him with her cold, wet nose. He slowly slid his hands from his face, and when they fell to his sides, Kilgharrah started to lick the back of his hand. Arthur sighed and scratched her behind the ear.

~*~

Merlin was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. When he looked at the time on his cellphone, he became even more anxious. It was twenty minutes past the time his parents were supposed to have arrived. His mother had texted him - he had been surprised to find out she had learned how to do that in his absence - that she had arrived in Camelot thirty minutes ago, and it wouldn’t take her long to get there.

Hunith hadn’t mentioned Balinor, or what kind of attitude he’d brought with him to Camelot, and that worried Merlin even further. He was not expecting a tension-free encounter with his father, but Merlin hoped that Balinor wouldn’t be overly hostile.

Merlin paced and fluffed a pillow on their small, ratty couch. He was sure he’d done a good job cleaning and his mother should have no complaints. Will, of course, had been no help at all.

Speaking of the lazy git, Will appeared, slowly coming down the stairs. He stopped in front of Merlin. "How much longer?"

"Should be any minute now." Merlin itched to do something with his hands, but he knew there was no more cleaning necessary. He walked up to the couch and picked up a pillow.

"When you get a chance, I need to talk to you about something Edwin told me," Will started.

"About the Pendragon's?"

Will nodded.

Merlin was about to answer when he heard a knock on the door and froze momentarily. He took a deep breath and tried to convince himself these were only his parents, how bad could it be?

When he opened the door, he barely had time to react before he had an armful of his mother. She practically squeezed the life out of him, but Merlin didn’t care. He had missed his mother so much. 

Hunith pulled back and beamed up at him. “Oh, my darling, I’ve missed you.”

Merlin smiled back at her. "I missed you, too." It had been almost six months since Hunith had last visited.

Hunith walked in with her bag and went over to hug Will.

Merlin stood at the door waiting for his father. He stuck his head outside, wondering if his father was having trouble with the bags or something. He came back inside and looked at his mother. "Where's dad?"

Hunith didn't need to say anything. The way she gulped and averted her eyes gave Merlin his answer.

Merlin slammed the door shut.

Hunith winced. "I'm so sorry, Merlin. He wanted to come but-"

"Something came up with work?" Merlin interrupted. He hated being short with his mother, but he was tired of this. "You used that excuse last time, mother."

"It's not an excuse."

"A lie then."

"Merlin Cornelius Emrys!" Hunith cried. Her tone said loud and clear she meant business.

Merlin sighed. "I'm sorry, mother. I really am, but come on! I've been here almost two years now and father refuses to come here. At one point do I start to take this personally?"

Hunith strode toward him. "Never. Your father loves you and wants to see you. It's just this place..." Hunith looked towards the sky and shook her head.

"I know he hates Camelot. I know he had a bad time here, but so did you and you manage to come and see me."

"Believe me, it's not easy. Also trust me when I say your father had it much worse than me." Hunith bit her lip and her eyes clouded over.

Merlin turned around briefly and tried to keep his frustration in check. He turned back. "Mother, how can you say things like that and refuse to tell me what happened? I need to know."

Hunith took his hands. "No, you don't. It was a terrible time." She tried to turn her frown into a smile. "I promise you will see your father when you come home for the holidays."

Merlin hung his head, but didn't say anything. There was no changing his mother's mind - she could be just as stubborn as his father.

~*~

After getting something to eat, Merlin and Will lead Hunith upstairs. As usual, Hunith put up a fuss about Merlin giving her his room, but Merlin won the argument as usual. Merlin definitely came by his stubbornness honestly.

Will really enjoyed watching Hunith and Merlin interact. It reminded him of life back home. He was happy in Camelot, but sometimes he missed the simpler times there.

He also enjoyed watching Merlin start to relax and behave more like a kid.

Merlin excitedly showed Hunith the immaculate state of his room. He was rewarded for his cleanly room by a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

When Hunith got to Will's room, she frowned at the disaster area.

Will shrugged. "I have a job."

Hunith looked over at Merlin and back at Will. "Merlin has a job and he still manages to clean."

"Yeah, when you visit."

Merlin kicked Will in the shin.

Hunith just chuckled. "You two haven't changed a bit."

"You say that as if it's a good thing," Merlin said as he glared at Will.

Will shoved his shoulder.

Hunith laughed again, but put her hands up. "Alright, enough now." She turned to Merlin. "I have another bag - with presents - in the car. Can you get it for me?"

"Sure, mum." Merlin took the keys from her and bounded down the stairs.

Hunith faced Will. "I trust that you're doing well?"

Will nodded. "Yeah. I think I have an excellent shot at a promotion. I might finally get to do some actual writing."

Hunith hugged him. "That's excellent." Her expression turned more serious. "I'm so tickled that you're taking on more responsibility."

"I had to grow up sometime." It felt like a lie. He had a better job, but he was starting to make the same bad choices he sometimes made in the past.

Hunith touched his cheek. "I'm glad to hear it. It makes the separation from Merlin more bearable knowing you're here for him and keeping him out of trouble. You're keeping your promise."

Will gulped and forced a smile. "Of course."

~*~

Arthur adjusted his collar again and once again wished for the floor to swallow him whole, as the woman next door kept droning on and on about how hard it was to find a decent gynecologist in Camelot. How this passed for appropriate party conversation, he would never know. He guess he’d missed a lot when he spent the last few years in his own little bubble, with just himself, his father, and Kilgharrah.

He’d been at Lance and Gwen’s engagement party for over an hour now, and he had been ready to leave after the first minute. Being in these kinds of social situations wasn’t easy for him and he had no real patience for it.

After another five minutes, Arthur had enough and faked a phone call to get away from the woman. She barely noticed, she just turned to the man on her left and began to chew his ear off.

Arthur spotted Lance and Gwen talking to her father, and Lance smiled at Arthur. Arthur returned the gesture. He wished Lance and Gwen weren’t so busy playing host, so he could spend time with the only people he knew at this party.

He made his way to the small glass trolley by the kitchen that served as the drink cart, and helped himself to another beer. He’d never really had a taste for it before, and wasn’t much of an alcohol drinker, but whatever would get him through the night worked for him. He was already on his third beer of the night.

He felt faintly tipsy, but he wouldn’t say he was drunk. As he took a pull from the bottle, he almost choked at the sound of all too familiar laughter. It stopped him cold. 

Arthur put down the beer and exhaled slowly. “I don’t believe this.” 

He followed the sound of the laughter and spotted Merlin talking with two professional looking men, who didn’t look much older than Merlin.

Arthur didn’t have much time to contemplate what his next course of action would be. He could make a clean getaway while Merlin’s back was turned. But if Merlin turned around, he would see him. There were only about 15 - 20 people squeezed into Lance and Gwen’s cozy, but tiny, flat. 

Part of him wanted to see Merlin again, even if it was just to needle him mercilessly, and make him feel worse. But he just knew that if he were around Merlin right now, feeling the way that he did, the results probably wouldn’t be pretty. He was still incredibly upset and sad over Merlin’s behavior. It was probably for the best they didn’t run into each other again.

Arthur backed away slowly for a second, and when he turned around, he almost ran into the woman from before. Evidently, not only was she a chatterbox, but a bit of a drama queen. She let out the most shrill, undignified squawk Arthur had ever heard in his life.

Immediately, all eyes focused on them.

Arthur just closed his eyes and grimaced. 

“I’m so sorry,” the noisy woman exclaimed.

Arthur opened his eyes and put on a mask of politeness. “No, it’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

The woman looked apologetic, but didn’t know what else to say and finally backed away.

“Arthur?”

Of course, Arthur thought. He nervously picked at his black pants and tried to keep a hold of his emotions as he turned around to greet Merlin. He kept his gaze focused on a spot well beyond the other man’s head. “Merlin.”

“What are you doing here?”

Arthur bristled somewhat at Merlin’s surprised tone. “I’m here for the party, same as you, I assume.”

Merlin bit his lip. He seemed as unbalanced and unsure as Arthur felt. “Are you here with someone?”

“No,” Arthur said. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

“I know that.” Merlin smiled nervously. “I’m just surprised to see you here.”

“Gwen and Lance are friends. Where else would I be?”

Merlin’s head snapped back and he looked startled. “Really? Lance and I are friends and he’s never mentioned you.”

Arthur was starting to feel, literally and figuratively, hot under the collar. Merlin’s attitude, and presence, was unnerving him. “Do you think I’m lying?”

Merlin held up his hands immediately. “No, of course not.” He opened his mouth and closed his mouth a few times. “I just never pictured you with friends.” He seemed to recognize his mistake instantly and opened his mouth to begin to backpedal, but Arthur cut him off.

“You don’t think I’m capable of having friends?” Arthur tried to keep his voice down. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion for Gwen and Lance, but Merlin was not making this easy.

“No. I mean yes, of course you’re capable of having friends. Just Gwen and Lance, they’re such nice people. I’m surprised they’re friends with…”

“With what?” Arthur whispered harshly.

Merlin ran both his hands through his hair. Arthur could tell that he was drowning in his word vomit, but he refused to lend Merlin a hand. “I’m sorry.” There was a desperate plea in his voice. “We’ve clearly got off on the wrong foot. Here...in life. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“Really?” Arthur slowly closed the gap between the two of them. He was so sick of people looking at him as if he’d wronged them in some way, treating him like he was a thing that should be hidden away forever, because of what his father did. To have Merlin, of all people, judging him, hurt even worse. “Because to me it sounded as you were saying that you were surprised nice people, like Gwen and Lance, would ever be friends with the likes of me.” 

Merlin shook his head and tried to say something, but Arthur plowed on.

“It sounded as if you’re judging me. Which is astounding considering that you are a cold-blooded little thief,” Arthur hissed, looking directly into Merlin’s eyes.

Merlin once again looked like he was deeply wounded by Arthur’s words. “That is unfair.”

“Is it?” Arthur scoffed. “I believe in calling a spade a spade. When someone slithers into your house in the dead of night and nicks a precious memento that doesn’t belong to them, I think calling them a thief is fair, and the least that I could do.” 

“Arthur, if you just let me…”

“Let you what? Keep tearing away at my opinion of you? I’m not interested in anything you have to say anymore, Merlin. You had your chance to make it right and you failed. Why should I listen to you?!”

Gwen and Lance appeared next to the bickering duo, who despite Arthur’s continually failed efforts to lower his voice, were starting to attract attention. Gwen and Lance wore matching looks of concern.

“What’s going on?” Gwen whispered urgently.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Lance, but your friend Merlin is a lying, backstabbing wanker. Oh, and a thief.” Arthur spoke to Lance, but continued to stare daggers at Merlin.

Lance furrowed his brow and looked between Arthur and Merlin. “Arthur, are you sloshed?”

“No!” Arthur exclaimed with more force than necessary. “I’m telling the truth. Tell them, Merlin.” He looked expectantly at Merlin. When Merlin didn’t say anything, Arthur sneered, “I suppose you’re just going to lie again. As if I can’t tell when you’re doing it. As if I can’t see you biting your lips so hard, you’re practically drawing blood.”

“Wha…” Merlin blinked slowly. “How did you know I do that?”

Arthur scratched the back of his head quickly and sucked in a breath as he tried to come up with a cover. “Gaius,” He blurted out. “I told you, we’ve talked about you.”

Merlin didn’t seem convinced.

“I should tell him what you did.” Arthur didn’t know if it was the alcohol, or the sting of Merlin’s betrayal that had his guts churning, but he suddenly felt sick. When he looked at Merlin, he could see that he looked just as knotted up as he was. Good, Arthur thought. He wanted Merlin to cry. “I should tell your parents, if I thought it would do any good. I’ll bet you’re just as much of a disappointment to them as you are to me.”

“Arthur!” Gwen protested.

Merlin stalked towards him and stuck his finger in his chest. “You calling me a disappointment means nothing to me.” The tear that fell down his cheek countered that lie. Merlin wiped away at it angrily. “You are the biggest disappointment in this room. I know what your father did, Arthur.”

Arthur stumbled back a step. If he knew about what his father did, what else did he know? Did he know about their past connection? Did he remember?

“I know he's a murderer.”

So he didn’t remember. Arthur wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or not.

“It’s sickening. Half the people in this town hate you, and everyone else pities you. I pity you, Arthur. No one wants you here. They wish you would just go away. I wouldn’t miss you if you were gone. You’re an embarrassment.” Merlin’s words were malicious, but his voice was shaky and uncertain.

It wounded Arthur nonetheless. He swallowed thickly as he wobbled on his feet.

“Alright, alright that is enough,” Lance said as he stepped in between them.

“You’re right. I don’t have to listen to this.” Arthur tried to walk away, but stumbled and almost fell. 

Lance got him by the arm. “No, you’re not driving Arthur.”

“Well, I’m not staying here.”

Lance sighed deeply. “I’ll take you home then.”

Arthur wanted to be polite and protest. This was Lance’s party. He should be able to enjoy it. But he had to get out of there before he started weeping like a girl, and even without the drinks in his system, he was in no shape to drive. “Thank you.”

Lance nodded. He looked back at Gwen, who gave him a brief, sympathetic nod in response.

Lance helped Arthur to the door. 

“Wait!” Merlin caught up to them before they could step over the threshold. “Arthur, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said.”

Arthur cut him off with a wave of his hand. “What you did or didn’t mean, doesn’t matter. I just want you to leave me alone. Stay away from me.”

Merlin looked like he wanted to say something, but Arthur didn’t give him a chance. He gathered up as much strength and dignity as he could muster, and walked away without any assistance from Lance. He didn’t give Merlin a backwards glance. He just wanted to go home and vomit, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol.

~*~

Merlin could barely remember getting home from the party. After Arthur left, Gwen had tried to find out what happened, but Merlin just wanted to flee as fast as possible. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so embarrassed. Not only had he ruined two dear friends night of celebration, but he’d stooped to a level of cruelty he hadn’t known he was capable of. 

The last thing he had wanted to do that night was fight with Arthur. He had wanted to make amends, but the things Arthur had said to him had stung him so badly, the only thing he wanted to do was retaliate and hit Arthur just as hard. Something felt off whenever he was with him, and he could never explain why, which just made him flustered and confused.

Merlin also couldn’t get the look in Arthur’s eyes out of his head. He looked so lost and hurt and something in Merlin desperately wanted to make things okay for him. 

Merlin stood at the foot of the stairs and looked up toward their rooms. He knew Will wasn’t home. For once he had taken the night off from work and was out with some mates from work. Merlin quickly made a decision and took the steps two at a time.

When he got to Will’s room, Merlin stamped down his feeling of guilt for violating Will’s privacy, but Merlin needed some answers. He knew what Will had said about Uther making up the story about things being stolen, and he wanted to trust his friend, but he had a few doubts about the story.

Trying to find something in Will’s, to call it disorganized would be kind, room was difficult. Merlin checked under clothes scattered over the floor. He had to cover his mouth in disgust when he touched something gooey under his bed, he truly hoped it was some kind of leftover food, but he decided not to investigate further.

He got up and went over to Will’s drawers. He hurriedly searched through them. When he didn’t find the book or ring, he slammed the last drawer shut. “Bloody hell, where did you put them?”

“Put what?”

Merlin momentarily froze. He turned around slowly. Will crossed his arms over his chest and waited for an answer.

Merlin considered it briefly, but he didn’t want to insult Will by lying. “I was looking for the book and the ring Arthur said you stole.”

Will closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “I thought we’ve been over this. I thought you trusted me.”

Merlin sighed. “I do trust you, but Arthur-”

“Oh, Arthur.” Will sneered when he said Arthur’s name. “Because Arthur says I took something, it must be true.”

“Will, you don’t understand. You don’t know Arthur like I do.”

Will’s eyes bulged as he looked at Merlin as if he’d grown two heads. “What are you talking about? You barely know Arthur!”

Merlin really couldn’t argue that point. Merlin shoved both hands in his hair. "God, I know that! But you should have seen Arthur tonight."

"You saw Arthur? Where?"

"At Gwen and Lance's engagement party. He's friends with them. He was there tonight and we said some awful things to each other." Merlin frowned going over everything in his head again.

Will pursed his lips and gave Merlin a sympathetic look. "You can't let him get to you."

"I just...I can see that he's hurting and I know he's not lying about those things being taken."

"I told you, his father must be manipulating him."

"I know." Merlin took a deep breath. "But I don't believe you."

Will looked as if Merlin had slapped him in the face.

Merlin quickly strode over to him. "I don't blame you. Your horrible boss is probably lying to you. This is his fault in the first place."

“Don’t you blame him!”

"I'm not looking to place blame right now." Merlin looked directly into Will's eyes. "I just need you to be completely honest with me right now, and I swear, this time if you tell me you didn't do it I'll let it go. So tell me the truth."

Will heaved a great, big sigh before he stared back at Merlin. His breaths faltered for a second and then he finally spoke up. "I did it."

Merlin immediately sucked in a breath and turned around. He whirled around to glare at Will. "Why would you do that? Why would you lie to me?"

"I knew you wouldn't approve and I didn't want to involve you."

"Will, I'm already involved!"

"And that's not my fault." Will pointed at Merlin. "I didn't ask you to come that night, did I?"

"No. But you did ask for my help." Merlin shook his head. He couldn't remember the last time he was angrier with Will. His thoughts soon turned to Arthur. "You need to give me the ring and book back."

"They're not here."

Merlin didn't have to ask where they were. "Then get them back from your boss."

"No."

Merlin blinked. "What?"

"You need to talk to Edwin first," Will explained.

"Why?" Merlin shrugged.

"I tried to tell you before your mum came to visit. Edwin said he wants to talk to you. He thinks there's something you may want to hear."

~*~

Arthur waited in the hospital waiting room. He tapped his foot nervously.

When someone lightly touched his shoulder, he looked up sharply. He sighed when he saw it was Gwen.

She smiled down at him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Arthur stood up. "Yes. I just really wanted to apologize again for disrupting your party. My behavior was inexcusable."

"It's alright. I have to say if it was anyone other than you and Merlin arguing, I might have found it very entertaining." Her grin turned into a frown. "But since it was you and Merlin, and I care about both of you, it was a bit unsettling."

Arthur and Gwen started to walk toward the front door.

"I still don't understand entirely what it was about," Gwen added.

"I told you. Merlin stole something from me."

Gwen paused at the door. "That just doesn't sound like something Merlin would do."

"But he did," Arthur gritted out. "I'm not lying."

Gwen pushed open the door. "I'm not saying you are. It just doesn't sound like Merlin. He had to have a good reason. Or more likely he was dragged into it by his friend."

"That's no excuse. Perhaps Merlin isn't the man you thought he was. He's not who I thought he was." Arthur said the last part under his breath.

Gwen still heard it. "What does that mean? Arthur, were you interested in Merlin?"

Arthur stopped in the middle of the parking lot. "Of course not."

Gwen resumed walking toward her car. She shook her head. "I don't know. The way you were arguing with him...it was almost passionate. I've never seen you react like that to someone."

They stopped at her car.

Arthur shrugged. "I was just upset...about the things he stole."

"And that's it?" Gwen prodded.

"What other reason would there be?"

"I don't know." Gwen got into her car. "But when you want to tell me, you know where to find me." She smiled and gave him a knowing look before she drove off.

Arthur wanted to Gwen about everything, but he couldn't make heads or tails over what he was feeling right now enough to discuss it with anyone. 

He couldn't reconcile the two different Merlin's he knew. Of course, Merlin had just been a little boy the last time he'd seen him until a few months ago, but Arthur had always envisioned the man Merlin would become - and being a thief didn't fit into that vision.

Arthur hated feeling so negatively towards him. A part of him wanted to go to Merlin and get some explanation that made sense, but he's already given Merlin chances to confess. Right now, Arthur had to put his father's well-being first.

Though what he was going to do next, he still wasn't sure.

~*~

It had been days since the party, and Merlin still felt lower than pond scum. He felt even worse knowing with absolute certainty that Arthur had been right all along. He had every reason to hate Merlin.

Merlin had barely spoken to Will since he made his confession, not even to give him an answer about talking to Edwin. A part of him was very interested in hearing what his boss had to say, but Merlin was wary of being able to really trust anything coming from Edwin.

Despite Arthur’s warning to stay away from him, Merlin had hoped to be able to approach Arthur after English class, but Arthur wasn’t there for the next two classes.

When Arthur finally did show up to class, Merlin finally thought he might have an opportunity to at least get Arthur to listen, but he had barely gotten two words out before Arthur brushed past him brusquely without a word.

Merlin had gone to a bookstore and aimlessly wandered around. Even if he knew the name of the book Will had taken, Arthur had mentioned that there were personal things in it that couldn't be replaced.

As a dejected Merlin walked to work from the bookstore, a horrific downpour started with little warning. Instead of speeding up his pace, Merlin trudged through it. He thought getting soaked was only a taste of the penance that he deserved.

About five minutes away from the vet hospital, Merlin spotted a few people standing on the side of the road. A couple of them were hovering over what looked like a wounded animal. Merlin ran toward them.

The group of four consisted of two men and two women who looked roughly the same age as Merlin and two of them must have been students, since they had backpacks on. When he got to them he saw that the injured animal was a large chocolate colored dog. He thought he recognized it, but couldn’t be sure. He gingerly started to crouch down to get a look at its face.

One of the men - a tall, burly blonde - was holding his hand to his chest, but reached out to stop Merlin. “Don’t. He bit me.”

“She. It’s a girl,” Merlin said as he got a good look at her face. His heart sank. “Oh, Kilgharrah.” He turned back to the man. “She’s just scared. Did any of you see what happened?”

One of the girls shook her head. “I was here first and just saw the poor thing laying here. I think she must have been hit by a car. I wasn’t sure who to ring.” She tightly held on to her yellow umbrella.

Merlin quickly checked Kilgharrah’s breathing. It seemed normal, if a bit labored. Kilgharrah lifted up her head and whimpered. Merlin slowly reached out and stroked her head. “It’s going to be alright, Killy.”

Merlin turned back to the people gathered there as he took off his jacket and covered Kilgharrah. Water was dripping into his eyes and he pushed his wet hair off his face. “I work at the animal hospital. It’s just five minutes from here. We have to get her there.”

“How do we do that? None of us have a car.” The man with the injured hand asked.

“I’m not sure.” Merlin looked back at Kilgharrah and tried to check her for signs of shock. He reached out to touch her paws and she yelped when he touched her hind legs. She had a bloody wound on her left hind leg.

Merlin stood up and looked around. His gaze landed on the one girl who hadn’t spoken up yet. She was wearing a scarf. Merlin rushed over to the redhead. “I need to borrow this.” He quickly took the blue scarf off her. “Sorry.”

He went back to Kilgharrah and pressed the scarf to Kilgharrah’s wound. Merlin examined the area again while he did so and pointed at the other man who was lingering in the background. “I need to borrow your jacket.”

The man took off his coat quickly and walked over to Merlin and Kilgharrah. He tried to hand the coat to Merlin.

Merlin waved him off and pointed to behind Kilgharrah. “Please place it on the ground and I’m going to need you to help me lift her onto it.”

The man looked wary.

“She won’t bite you. I promise.” Merlin stroked her head. “You won’t will you, girl?” Killy briefly looked at him. Even though she couldn’t speak, Merlin felt like she had heard him. She laid her head back down on the ground.

The man nodded and put his hands by Kilgharrah’s upper chest. As carefully as possible, Merlin lifted Kilgharrah’s lower half. Kilgharrah whimpered and kicked out with her good leg, but they managed to get her on the blanket.

Merlin stroked her soft fur. “You’re going to be okay.” He looked at the man. “What’s your name?”

“Gwaine.” He pushed wet, curly hair off his forehead.

“Gwaine, I’m going to need you to do me a big favor and help me carry her to the veterinary hospital. It’s only five minutes from here. I can’t do it by myself.”

Without hesitation, Gwaine nodded. “Alright.”

They lifted up Kilgharrah.

“Shh,” Merlin whispered when Kilgharrah whined.” We’re going to get you help.”

Merlin briefly turned to the three others and nodded. “Thank you.”

It felt like the longest five minutes of Merlin’s life, Merlin could barely think he was so worried. Thankfully, the rain stopped on their way there. He and Gwaine managed to get Kilgharrah to the hospital in a little over five minutes.

As soon as they get there, Merlin directed Gwaine toward an exam room in the back. On their way there, Merlin spotted Gaius in another room. “Gaius, we need your help. Killy’s been hit by a car.”

They get to the exam room and gently laid Kilgharrah down. Gaius dashed into the room soon after them. He immediately went over to the table.

“This is Arthur’s dog.” Gaius looked over at Merlin. “What happened?”

“I didn’t see it happen, but it looks like she may have been hit by a car. Her breathing is a bit labored, but it doesn’t seem like she’s in shock. She does have a wound on her left hind leg. I tried to put pressure on it there, but we had to move her quickly.”

Gaius nodded. “You did a good job, Merlin.”

“Yeah, he was really brilliant out there. You should probably give him a raise,” Gwaine piped in.

Merlin gave a weak chuckle. “I couldn’t have done anything without your help. Thank you.”

Gwaine grinned.

Merlin turned to Gaius. “Gaius, where’s your phone?”

“It’s on my desk. Why?”

“You have Arthur’s phone number on it?”

Realization dawned on Gaius’s face and he nodded.

Merlin ran out of the room and went to Gaius’s office. He picked up his phone and found Arthur’s number. He quickly dialed the number. He bounced up and down waiting for Arthur to pick up.

After the fourth ring, Arthur finally picked up. “Hello, Gaius?”

“No, it’s not Gaius. It’s Merlin. I need to tell you-“

“Merlin,” Arthur grunted. “There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear.”

Before Merlin could get in another word, Arthur hung up.

“You…” Merlin stared at the phone, before he started calling again.

Arthur picked up on the second ring this time. “Bugger off, Merlin!”

Merlin sputtered in protest as the line went dead. He dialed a third time. This time it went straight to voicemail. Merlin thought about leaving a profanity laced tirade, but thought better of it. He hung up. After grumbling for a second, he spotted Gaius’s car keys. He snatched them up and ran back to the exam room.

“How’s she doing?” Merlin asked as he went over to pet Kilgharrah.

“I have to perform an x-ray and some tests but it looks like she has a greenstick fracture. If it weren’t for her age that wouldn’t be too much of a concern, but what’s really troubling is she may have internal bleeding. I’ll have to do an abdominocentesis.” Gaius frowned. He looked at the keys in Merlin’s hand. “Did you speak with Arthur?”

“We had a bit of a communication problem.” Merlin pursed his lips. “I need to take your car and find him. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

Merlin looked over at Gwaine awkwardly. “I could drop you off somewhere.”

Gwaine waved him off. “That’s alright. I was walking anyway and the rain has stopped.”

Merlin hesitated, but nodded. He walked Gwaine towards the front door. ‘Thank you again for your help.”

“You’re welcome.” He patted Merlin on the shoulder. “You’re a great vet!”

Merlin shrugged with a wry grin. “I’m not a vet.”

Gwaine laughed. “Are you sure about that?”

He walked off and the corners of Merlin’s mouth struggled to not break out into a smile.

~*~

Arthur couldn’t believe it. He’d searched the entire house and all over the grounds and couldn’t find Kilgharrah anywhere. This wasn’t like her at all. He didn’t want to do it, but he was about to recruit his father to help with the search, when there was a knock at the door.

Ever since Arthur and Uther had moved back in, they’d rarely had visitors, other than Gwen and, well they didn’t count as “visitors”, but also Merlin and his friend. As he walked to the door, he started to hope that however it was might have Kilgharrah with them.

When Arthur opened the door, he almost closed it immediately when he saw Merlin on his doorstep. He couldn’t believe the nerve of him to return to the scene of the crime.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Arthur spit out.

Merlin looked taken aback for a moment, but recovered quickly. “It’s about Kilgharrah.”

Arthur looked at him and thought Merlin looked anxious and, perhaps guilty. His jaw dropped. “I don’t believe this. Did you take my dog?”

Merlin did a double take. “What?”

“Are you not going to be happy until you take everything important to me?”

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but Arthur didn’t let him get a word in edgewise.

“I hesitated to call the police before out of some misplaced loyalty…to Gaius, but you’ve gone too far. How could you-“

“Kilgharrah’s been hit by a car,” Merlin blurted out.

Arthur was still too caught up in his anger to register what Merlin had said. It took him a few seconds, but then his mouth slowly closed. He gulped. “What?”

Merlin ran a hand over his face and looked down. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to tell you this way, but she’s been hurt.”

Arthur stumbled back and Merlin reached out and grasped his elbow to stabilize him.

“I…” Arthur trailed his hand across his mouth and tried to get his bearings. “Where is she?”

“I came upon her a few minutes away from the veterinary hospital. I got to help and was able to get her there. Gaius is treating her right now,” Merlin explained. He was still holding on to Arthur.

Arthur squeezed his eyes shut. “How is she?”

“Gaius has to do an exam and some tests, but he thinks she has a fracture in her leg…” Merlin trailed off.

Arthur’s eyes snapped open. “And?”

Merlin exhaled. “He’s worried about some internal bleeding.”

Arthur closed his eyes again. He felt dizzy. His knees buckled.

Merlin caught him. “But Gaius isn’t sure about that. She could be fine. Even if she does have internal bleeding, she can still be treated.”

“She’s sixteen years old, Merlin. She probably shouldn’t even still be alive. Any little thing could be a disaster for her. She could-“

“But she won’t,” Merlin interrupted. He shook his head for emphasis.

Arthur really wanted to believe him, but he didn’t know if he had that much faith, not after previous experience.

Merlin took one of Arthur’s hands in his and looked into Arthur’s eyes. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here, Arthur.”

Arthur stared back at him, but suddenly he wasn’t looking at an adult Merlin. He was thinking back to just after his mother’s death when a young Merlin held his hand and said the same exact thing. Well not the same exact thing. Back then Merlin always called him “Artie” even though Arthur always pretended it drove him crazy.

Back then, Arthur had somehow believed Merlin. He had started to cry in that moment, the first time he had since his mother had died.

Arthur blinked and was back in the present. His faith in Merlin may have been shaken lately, but he still believed him. Arthur blew out a breath and nodded.

“I need to get to the hospital.” He looked behind him to the second floor where his father was.

Merlin squeezed his hand and Arthur looked back at him. “I don’t think you’re in any condition to drive. I’ll take you there.”

Arthur stared up at him. “Are you sure?”

Merlin smiled. “Of course.”

Arthur briefly smiled back and left with him.

As soon as they were in the car, Arthur called Gaius but he wasn’t answering. He turned to Merlin. “Gaius isn’t answering.”

“He’s probably helping Kilgharrah. There’s no reason to panic.”

Arthur let out a breath and nodded. Once again Merlin had put his mind at ease.

Once he was a little calmer, Arthur realized he probably shouldn’t have just left without telling his father where he was going. He wasn’t necessarily worried about leaving him alone – he’s done that before – his father didn’t require a babysitter, but he still didn’t like leaving him like that and knew he might worry. Arthur texted Gwen to see if she could look in on him. Thankfully, she was off that day and promised to go to the house.

With that burden off his mind, he was free to go back to anxiously worrying about Kilgharrah. He wrung his hands and looked over at Merlin. “This never happens.”

“What?” Merlin turned toward him for a second before he looked back at the road.

“I don’t want you to think that I don’t look after Killy. I don’t just let her wander around aimlessly by herself.”

Merlin nodded. “I know. Dogs sometimes wander off.” He looked at Arthur with sympathy. “It’s not your fault.”

Arthur stared back at Merlin before rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t usually have to worry about her running away. She ran off from my uncle’s house one time when she was four and someone must have scared her while she was gone because after she finally came home a day later, she never left again. She always wants to stay close to me. But lately she’s been out of sorts.”

“What do you think has been going on with her lately?”

Arthur surreptitiously eyed Merlin. “A reminder of the past.”

“Was it moving back here?” Merlin took a sharp turn.

“Something like that,” Arthur answered. 

Merlin gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. “Why did you move back here...if you don’t mind me asking?”

Arthur took a deep breath before answering. He had an insane instinct to tell Merlin the whole truth, but he suppressed it. He decided on a half-truth. “I just wanted to be somewhere that reminded me of happier times.” He gave a slight chuckle. “Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision.”

Merlin didn’t say anything.

Arthur was actually glad that Merlin didn’t try to offer empty words of reassurance.

A few moments of awkward silence passed. Merlin cleared his throat. “Was Kilgharrah a present or did you pick her out yourself?”

Arthur stared at Merlin for a moment and Merlin glanced back at him. Arthur looked down. “A friend picked her for me. He wanted to lift my spirits after my mother died.”

“It sounds like he was a wonderful friend.”

“Yeah.” Arthur let out a long exhale. “He was a lot younger than I was but...he was my best friend. After he left, I was never really able to find a friend like that.

Merlin was surprised when Arthur threw his head back and laughed.

He slowly shook his head. “I’m sorry. It just occurred to me that my closest friends in the world have been a five year old and a dog. That’s pathetic, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think so.” Merlin grinned. “I’ve had the same best friend since I was six and I haven’t really needed anyone else.”

It kind of pained Arthur to hear Merlin talk about having only one best friend. It was probably best that Merlin didn’t have any memories of their time together, but it still hurt.

“How did you meet that boy?”

Arthur shook himself from his thoughts. “We grew up together. Our families were really close.”

“What happened?”

Arthur swallowed. He was grateful for more than one reason when he looked up and saw that they had arrived at the veterinary hospital. He bolted out of the car seconds after Merlin had stopped the car. He didn’t wait for Merlin and ran to the front door. He faltered once he stepped inside.

Merlin almost collided into Arthur's back as he ran into the hospital. 

Arthur took in a few gulps of air and flexed his hands. He tried to move, but he couldn't. He felt Merlin standing beside. He looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Kilgharrah has been the only consistent presence in my life since I was seven years old. I can't... I don't know what I'll do if she's not alright."

Merlin clasped his shoulder. He moved to stand in front of Arthur. "I'll go and see what Gaius has to say and let you know when you can see her. Yeah?"

Arthur couldn't find his voice, so he just nodded.

Merlin couldn't have been gone for longer than five minutes, but the wait was absolute agony for Arthur. He tried not to think of hundred worse case scenarios. When Merlin came back Arthur wasn't sure what to make of the expression on his face. But soon, Merlin began to smile and Arthur let out a long breath.

"The good news is there is no internal bleeding. The only bad news is Gaius's initial assessment was right and she does have a fracture. Gaius is going to have to perform surgery to place a pin in her leg. But after that she should be fine. She'll be home with you in a couple of days."

"Thank God!" Arthur puts his head between his legs and breathes out. He comes up and smiles at Merlin. The wish to hug Merlin in that moment is so strong Arthur had to take a step back.

Merlin beamed at him.

"Thank you so much, Merlin. You have been such an invaluable help tonight. I..." Arthur swallowed. "I can't believe you would help me after how I acted at Gwen and Lance's engagement party."

Merlin bit his lip and stared at the ground. "Neither of us were at our best that night. I'm so sorry."

Arthur nodded. “I’m sorry, too.”

Merlin smiled. He looked behind him and gestured towards the back with his head. “Do you want to see her?”

“Yes,” Arthur almost shouted.

Merlin chuckled and took him back to where Kilgharrah was with Gaius.

Arthur immediately went to Kilgharrah. She was lying on the silver table and looked up at him. Arthur stroked the nape of her neck and put his head against hers.

He tried to discreetly wipe a tear and sniffled when he looked up at Gaius. “Thank you so much. I know she probably doesn’t have long-“

“Nonsense,” Gaius interrupted. “Kilgharrah has a very unique spirit. She might outlast us all. Well, perhaps, only me.”

Merlin and Gaius chuckled.

Arthur smiled. “I’m just really grateful for what you’ve done for her.”

Gaius simply nodded.

“I’d like to wait here while she’s in surgery, is that alright?”

“Of course.” Gaius turned to Merlin. “Merlin will show you to the waiting area.”

Merlin waited for Arthur as he gave Kilgharrah a small kiss on her head. When Arthur pulled back, she lifted up her head and licked his face. He laughed.

When he looked over at Merlin, he had such a warm expression on his face. Arthur was a bit embarrassed at his uncharacteristic display of emotion, but the way Merlin was looking at him made him feel there was nothing wrong with it.

He followed Merlin to the waiting area. It was a small, white room with a few rows of uncomfortable looking orange chairs. He could tell the chairs were ancient with the way the color was faded and some chairs had stuffing sticking out of them. Arthur sat down and put his hands in his lap as he looked around.

“Can I get you anything?” Merlin asked.

Arthur swallowed. “Uh…do you mind waiting with me?

Merlin’s head snapped back a bit and he looked surprised, but he recovered quickly. “Not at all.”

Arthur hadn’t wanted to ask. He knew the way he was feeling right now, he was liable to tell Merlin anything, but as Merlin sat down beside him he realized how right it was that Merlin and he wait together for Kilgharrah. He smiled as he thought that Kilgharrah would have probably wanted it this way.

~*~

Merlin had waited with Arthur the entire time Kilgharrah had been in surgery. They had started out with some ridiculous small talk. Merlin felt that Arthur was holding something back, though he wondered if he was just projecting. He really wanted to tell Arthur the truth about what Will had done.

Merlin had seen such a different side of Arthur tonight. Arthur’s love for Kilgharrah was clear and it was so beautiful getting to see Arthur be so gentle and so vulnerable. He had really opened himself up to Merlin and Merlin felt he deserved more than just a simple apology.

At one point he got up and excused himself to get Arthur and him something to drink, though it was more to give Merlin the opportunity to work up the guts to tell him the truth. When he came back with two bottles of water, he was disappointed to find that Arthur was fast asleep. He didn’t have the heart to wake Arthur up. Instead Merlin found a blanket and covered Arthur up.

After slumping back down into his seat, he couldn’t help it as his gaze landed on Arthur’s sleeping form. Merlin was once again bowled over by how gorgeous Arthur was. He had never noticed before how long and pretty Arthur’s eyelashes were. After that observation he realized he was verging into creepy territory and pulled out his phone to distract himself with some reading.

Arthur finally woke up just before Gaius came out to tell them that Kilgharrah was out of surgery and doing well. It was past 1 AM and Arthur could barely keep his eyes open, but thanked Gaius again. He didn’t argue when Merlin started to lead him to the door to take him home. Arthur was asleep again before Merlin had even pulled away from the hospital.

While Merlin mourned the opportunity to confess to Arthur he did appreciate getting more time to watch over Arthur. He didn’t understand where the feeling came from, but he felt very protective of Arthur and was grateful that he was given this opportunity to see a side of Arthur he was sure very few did.

Arthur woke up just a few minutes before they got to his house. He was alert enough that when they arrived, he told Merlin it wasn’t necessary for Merlin to walk up to his door. It was ridiculous at how disappointed Merlin felt over this. It’s not like it had been some kind of date.

With a small smile and another thank you, Arthur had left. Merlin watched him get into his house and eventually left. A part of him wondered if he had just dodged a big bullet. Maybe now he didn’t have to tell Arthur what will had done – what he had unwittingly helped Will do.

When Merlin got home and lay in bed he realized he felt the opposite. His resolve to tell Arthur the truth strengthened. The next day he woke up early and rode his bike over to Arthur’s house. After the night they’d had he knew that stopping by before noon unannounced probably wasn’t a great idea, but he really wanted to get this over with.

He knocked, maybe a little too loudly, on the front door. He waited another minute before he knocked again. Merlin ran his hand through his hair and tapped his foot. He was about to knock again when he heard some activity inside. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Arthur briefly look at him from the long side glass pane by the door.

Soon enough, Arthur was standing before him. Merlin was about to speak when he stopped at how pale Arthur looked.

“Is something wrong with Killy?”

Merlin closed his eyes and sighed. He wasn’t surprised Arthur jumped to that conclusion and kicked himself for scaring at him like that.

“I’m sorry. Kilgharrah should be fine. I haven’t been to the hospital today and I know Gaius would have told you if anything had changed,” Merlin explained.

Arthur visibly relaxed.

“That’s not why I’m here.” Merlin licked his lips and looked over Arthur’s shoulder. “May I come in?”

Arthur seemed hesitant, but soon moved back so Merlin could enter. Merlin awkwardly stood in the foyer and, now that he was here, didn’t know how to start. He supposed he should just come out with it, no preamble necessary.

When he turned back to Arthur, he was looking at him expectantly.

Merlin sighed. “I wanted to apologize.”

Arthur blinked. “Alright. I appreciate that, but you already apologized last night.”

Merlin nodded. “For what I said at the party. I’m apologizing now for what my friend and I did. You’re right. I did break into your house and my friend stole your mother’s ring and the book.”

Merlin wasn’t sure if Arthur looked more surprised or angry. He looked to the side and blew out a long breath.

When Arthur looked back at him and didn’t look as if he was going to take a swing at him, Merlin took a hesitant step forward. “This is no excuse, but I had never intended to break into your home. Will and I didn’t even know that you lived here and I swear to you I never knew that he took anything of yours.”

Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest. “When did you find out?”

“After the engagement party. I asked him about it and he admitted to me what he’d done. I’ve been trying to talk to you ever since.”

Arthur pursed his lips. “But I’ve refused to talk to you.”

Merlin didn’t want Arthur to blame himself. “You’ve had every right not to. I don’t blame you for hating me.”

“I could never hate you, Merlin.” Arthur had trouble meeting his eyes.

Merlin was startled by the sincerity in Arthur’s voice. He didn’t understand why Arthur didn’t hate him, but he was grateful.

Arthur cleared his throat. “I don’t understand. If you didn’t know I lived here and you weren’t here to take anything, then why did you break in?”

“It was for my friend, Will. His boss wanted him to come here to find evidence of whether or not your father had come back to Camelot.”

Arthur’s eyes widened slightly. “Who does he work for?”

“Edwin Muirden.”

Arthur covered his mouth and took a step back. After a minute, he shook his head, seeming to shake himself from his thoughts. “Edwin Muirden. The reporter.”

“He wants to do some kind of story on your family, on your father. Will wants to become a journalist and he wanted to impress Edwin and get a promotion. I think this story is really important to Edwin,” Merlin said.

“I’m not surprised. Edwin hates my family.” Arthur backed up and gripped the small table in the middle of the foyer.

“So it’s personal?” Merlin wasn’t completely surprised that this wasn’t just about journalistic integrity for Edwin.

Arthur got a faraway look in his eyes. “Yes.” He stared back at Merlin. "Honestly, I can't really blame Edwin. My father really hurt his family." Arthur took a deep breath. "My father hurt a lot of people here. He has a lot to answer for."

Arthur walked away and sat on the bottom step of the staircase.

Merlin followed him. He gripped the railing as he looked down at Arthur. "He does, but you don't."

Arthur furrowed his brow as he stared up at Merlin. "What do you mean?"

"The way people treat you, the way Valiant treated you in class, it's not fair. You're not responsible for the things your father did."

Arthur let out a slight chuckle, but Merlin could see there was no mirth in it. His expression was pained. "I'm not so sure about that."

"Why would you say that?" Merlin sat down and squeezed in beside Arthur.

Arthur clasped his hands together tightly and stared down. "My father went mad after my mother died. She died because of me."

"Arthur?" Merlin touched his arm.

Arthur didn't look at him. "I was playing with this family heirloom ring my father had given me. He had told me how important it was and how it was my duty to make sure I protected it. And I was just mindlessly playing with it, while my mother and I were walking in the city. I dropped it and ran after it. I never..." His voice broke. "I never saw the car coming. The next thing I knew my mother was screaming my name and I was thrown to the side." His eyes brimmed with tears. "She died in the hospital."

Merlin started rubbing slow circles on Arthur's back. Arthur tried to hide his face, but Merlin could see the tears falling.

Arthur wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Two days in a row of me crying in front of you like a girl."

Merlin smiled. "It could be worse. You could be screaming at me like a big, angry man."

Arthur actually laughed. 

Merlin smile broadened when Arthur looked at him. 

Arthur smiled back, but it slowly disappeared to be replaced by a frown.

"Arthur, what happened to your mother isn't your fault. It's a mother's job to protect her child. Your mother had would have made that sacrifice for you ten times over. I know my mother would have."

Arthur sighed. "I know, but I still can't help feeling responsible for what happened to my mother and my father."

Despite what Will had told him Uther had done, Merlin had formed no real opinions about the man. But Arthur blaming himself for whatever Uther had done, had Merlin feeling a great swell of anger for the man.

"Arthur, whatever decisions your father made are his own. It's no one's fault but his own." 

Arthur really seemed to take Merlin's words to heart, but the guilt was still there. His eyes still held so much sadness. 

Arthur folded his arms over his knees and put his head down. "My father loved my mother so much. His world seemed to stop after she was gone." He lifted his head and faced Merlin. "I used to think loving someone like that was sort of romantic." He exhaled deeply. "Now the thought of it scares the life out of me."

Merlin gulped. He had to agree with Arthur, at least somewhat. The idea of being deeply in love still deeply appealed to Merlin, but the notion of losing yourself so completely over another person was scary. 

Merlin just shrugged. "It must have its advantages, though having never been in love, I wouldn't know." He looked at Arthur out of the corner of his eye. "What about you?"

"I don't think I have."

Merlin fully turned to look at him and didn't know what the look on Arthur's face meant as he stared at Merlin.

Merlin looked down and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the time. "I should probably go." He stood up and walked back to the front door.

Arthur grabbed his elbow to stop him and walked in front of him. "Merlin, thank you for telling me the truth. I'm glad my initial assessment of you wasn't wrong and you're not a horrible wanker."

Merlin laughed. "So now you see that I'm a delightful person?"

"Hmm." Arthur scrunched up his face. "I'm not sure I'd go that far."

Merlin narrowed his eyes and tried to feign anger, but he couldn't help smiling.

Arthur chuckled and turned around to open the door. 

Merlin walked outside, but turned back quickly. He stepped closer to Arthur. "I swear that I'm going to make this right. I'm going to get your mother's ring and that book back."

Arthur moved as if he was going to take Merlin's hand, but he abruptly stopped and let his arm fall to his side. He simply nodded. "I believe you."

Merlin stared at him for another second before he turned around and walked back to his bike. He looked back briefly when he saw the door close behind him. 

When he got back to his bike, he pulled out his phone and called Will. He picked up on the third ring. Merlin spoke before Will could even say hello. "I want to talk to your boss."

~*~

Arthur stood by the door and marveled for a moment at how things had seemed to change so rapidly between him and Merlin. Just yesterday he thought he might never want to see him again and now...now he wasn't sure how to describe what he felt.

"There are something's that never change."

Arthur clutched at his chest as he heard his father's voice. He's not sure why he was so surprised.

He turned to watch his father slowly climb down the stairs. "What do you mean?"

"Merlin still seems very protective of you." His father said as he reached the bottom of the stairs and stood in front of Arthur.

Arthur smiled. He had always thought it was so weird - even though Merlin was so young, he had always seemed to think he needed to be Arthur's savior. 

"He's right, you know?" Uther interrupted his thoughts.

"Right about what?"

"What happened to your mother isn't your fault and you are certainly not responsible for what I did."

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "I know, but it's still hard to not feel responsible." He gave a small smile. "I'm trying to work on it."

Uther patted his shoulder. He stared at Arthur with a curious expression. "Why haven't you told Merlin about your shared past?"

Arthur let out a long sigh and gazed up at the ceiling. "I...I don't know how to. I wish that he remembered how happy he was here and how close we were, but then he would have to know about the bad times, too. He would have to know why he and his family left and I don't know how he would react. I fear that he would blame me and hate me like everyone else does."

"But you heard what he said. He doesn't hold you responsible for my actions."

"I know he said that, but he doesn't know the whole truth. I'm just scared he'll feel differently." Arthur swallowed thickly. "I couldn't take it if he hated me."

"I'm so sorry, my boy. This is my fault." He shook his head. "You were right when you said I have a lot to answer for. I've hurt you in so many ways. I'm the reason you have to keep lying to Merlin and now you have to deal with Edwin Muirden's vendetta.”

Just saying Edwin's name seemed to age his father ten years. His shoulders slumped and it seemed to take great effort just for him to hold his head up. 

“I wish that I could find a way to make things right with Edwin and with Balinor, but how can I do that when I’m too scared to even leave the house?”

Arthur wasn’t sure what to say to his father. He knew that his father had done some horrible things and there was nothing he could really say to make amends, but he also didn’t want his father to think that earning forgiveness was impossible.

Arthur sighed. “It’s going to take some time, father - but I know you can make things right. When I was a boy you were my hero. You were so brave and I know you can be that man again.”

Uther just nodded, but didn’t say anything back.

~*~

Merlin took a deep breath as he waited outside Edwin’s office. He was missing a math class for this and wasn’t happy that Edwin had been keeping him waiting for ten minutes. He was close to getting up and just barging in, but Edwin’s blonde assistant looked like she would pierce him through the heart with her letter opener if he even moved a muscle.

He was sitting there by himself. Will had wanted to come with him, but Merlin had insisted that he do this alone. A part of him was afraid that Will was show up anyway. Merlin was really not interested in getting in any fights with Will as he tried to defend his boss. Merlin just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.

After another minute, Merlin stood up. His assistant, Morgause, seemed to reach for something - probably something sharp - when Edwin came out of his office.

“I’m sorry for making you wait, Merlin.” He stretched out his hand.

Merlin was annoyed enough to consider not shaking it, but thought that would be excessively rude, so he took Edwin’s hand and shook it once. Edwin’s mouth stretched in what was clearly supposed to be a smile, but somehow just creeped Merlin out.

They walked into his office.

Edwin walked behind his desk. “Thank you for coming to see me, Merlin.”

Merlin didn’t bother to sit and walked right up to the desk. “I’m not here because I wanted to talk to you. I want the ring and the book Will stole.”

Edwin sat back and looked Merlin up and down, which made Merlin uncomfortable. “Why is this so important to you?”

Merlin crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Why do you think? Those things don’t belong to you. I never would have gone along with Will’s idea if I had none he planned on stealing anything. I’m not a thief.”

Edwin quirked up his eyebrow. “It seems a little more personal than that. What’s your relationship like with Arthur?”

“That’s really none of your business,” Merlin huffed. 

He could not believe the nerve of this man. It was becoming clear to him that his negative opinion of Edwin was not irrational.

Merlin placed his hands on the desk and leaned in closer. “Whatever I may feel for Arthur isn’t relevant, but your feelings on the other hand are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The arrogant look on Edwin’s face only faltered slightly as he leaned forward in his chair.

“Arthur told me how you feel about his family.”

Edwin narrowed his eyes. “What did he tell you exactly?”

“That Uther hurt your family,” Merlin explained.

Edwin’s face twisted in disgust. “Hurt?” 

Merlin was startled when Edwin stood up in one quick motion.

“Hurt?! Uther _destroyed_ my family!” Edwin spit out. He seemed to recover from his brief outburst and stared at Merlin for a second as he ran his hands through his hair and sat down. He gestured to the seat in front of him. 

Merlin slowly sat down, his curiosity getting the best of him.

“Did Arthur tell you how his mother died?”

Merlin wasn’t sure what that had to do with Edwin and he didn’t want to betray Arthur’s confidence, but he figured that this was a question Edwin already knew the answer to. 

He nodded. “She was hit by a car.”

“That’s right.” Edwin paused. He looked like he was lost in space for a moment, but then he returned his stare to Merlin. “She didn’t die right away. She was to be operated on by a brilliant surgeon...my father.”

Merlin blinked in surprise. At least this somewhat explained how this connected back to Arthur and his family.

“My father Gregor was a brilliant surgeon and a kind man and he was also one of Uther’s oldest friends. Uther insisted that my father look after her. Even though my father had been on call for nearly two days and was almost done for the day, he agreed to help because he loved Ygraine and Uther. After my father examined her, he determined that she had some internal bleeding.”

Merlin gasped. “Internal bleeding?”

Edwin looked at him with a slight quizzical expression. “Yes. Ygraine seemed to be doing well. She was conscious and talking and her blood pressure was normal. She had no obvious injuries, so my father chose not to go for surgery, even though Uther insisted.”

Edwin paused and his eyes clouded over. He looked so troubled Merlin almost felt sorry for him.

Edwin took a deep breath before he continued. “She took a turn for the worse overnight. My father rushed her into surgery, but she had some bleeding around...around her heart and there was nothing he could do.”

The story was very sad and Merlin felt sympathy for Arthur, knowing how guilty he felt over his mother’s death, but there was something else about the story that tugged at Merlin’s heart. He felt tears well in his eyes and he wasn’t sure why this hit him so hard.

“It was more than understandable for Ygraine’s family to be distraught, but Uther was beside himself with rage. He accused my father of killing her on purpose.”

Merlin shook his head in disbelief. “What reason could your father have possibly had?”

“Uther claimed that my father was in love with Ygraine and that if he couldn’t have her, he didn’t want Uther to either.” Edwin clutched the desk and seemed to be shaking.

“Did anyone actually believe that?”

“Not at first, but Uther was practically royalty in Camelot. His family was one of the richest in town. It didn’t help that he was special prosecutor. He made sure that there was an investigation. He manufactured evidence and turned my father’s colleagues against him. They accused him of having a history of accidents and covering up mistakes at work. Eventually, they found him negligent for Ygraine’s death and his medical license was revoked.”

“That’s terrible.” Merlin knew it was a weak response, but he didn’t know what else to say. He could definitely understand now why this was so personal to Edwin.

“That wasn’t the worst of it. He had my father arrested.” Edwin hung his head. He tried to control his shaking. “My father tried to hang in there, but when my mother said that she didn’t believe in him it was too much for him. He hung himself in prison.”

“Oh, my God.” Merlin felt sick to his stomach. “I’m so-”

Edwin cut him off. “That doesn’t help. Though I do appreciate the sentiment. It’s far more kindness than most ever showed my father.”

“It must have been so difficult for him having everyone turn against him.”

“It wasn’t exactly everyone,” Edwin added. “My father did have a friend - a mutual friend of his and Uther’s - who eventually began to question Uther’s behavior. He almost exposed Uther’s lies until Uther turned on him and had him imprisoned as well.”

Merlin almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He sighed loudly and looked up slightly at Edwin. “Was your father the man you told Will that Uther killed?”

“He killed my father just as sure as if he had tied that noose around his neck himself.” Edwin’s voice was filled with icy steel as he gave Merlin a hard stare.

Merlin stood up and began to pace. He couldn’t believe this. Knowing that Uther had killed someone was horrible, but he could still imagine some kind of redemption for the man, but if what Edwin told him was true, Merlin wasn’t so sure that was possible. He couldn’t imagine Arthur having to deal with this at such a young age.

Merlin stopped pacing and turned back to Edwin. “This is why it’s so important for you to know where Uther is. Are you looking to get revenge?”

“No.” Edwin waved his hands and stood up. “I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m not trying to punish Uther. He may have never gone to prison, but he spent years locked away in an institution and he lost years with his son. He has been punished. But I am a journalist and Uther coming back to town would be a major story. Not enough people know the truth about what happened.”

Merlin’s brow furrowed. “That doesn’t seem to be the case from how people talk about him and how people treat Arthur.”

“Some people know the truth, yes. But the elite in this town for years tried to protect Uther and themselves and they hid the truth. It all needs to come out and Uther needs to answer if he wants to make amends and how that would even be possible,” Edwin explained.

Merlin was still skeptical. He couldn’t imagine Edwin just letting what happened to his father go. Merlin wasn’t sure if he would be able to in Edwin’s shoes.

“But we need to find out where Uther is.” Edwin slowly walked in front of his desk. “I think you can help with that.”

“Me?” Merlin pointed to himself.

“Merlin, you might be surprised to learn that you and I have a lot in common. We’re kindred spirits, if you will.”

Merlin took a step back. Edwin was back to creeping Merlin out. “You don’t know anything about me.”

Edwin shook his head. “You’re smart with a bright future. You believe in right and wrong and justice being served is important to you, is it not?”

Merlin didn’t respond. 

“I just need you to get some information from Arthur.”

Merlin gaped at Edwin. “Are you off your rocker? If you think I’m breaking into Arthur’s house again, think again.”

Instead of looking insulted Merlin’s tone, Edwin just looked unnaturally happy. “You don’t need to break in. You're in a unique position to get closer to Arthur and get access to that house."

"What makes you think that? Arthur and I aren't even friends," Merlin argued.

"But you could be? You want to be, don't you?" Edwin said as he edged closer to Merlin.

Merlin wasn't a fan of Edwin's insinuation and even less a fan of Edwin's encroaching on his personal space. 

"Look, even if I wanted to be friends with Arthur - which I'm not saying I do - I would never become friends with him so I could spy on him for you."

Edwin shrugged. "That doesn't have to be the reason. Whether you're really his friend is irrelevant to me. I just need you to tell me about Uther."

Merlin backed away slowly. "I won't betray Arthur."

Edwin got a look on his face that Merlin couldn't quite describe. He looked smug and a bit manic at the same time. He leaned against his desk. "Don't think of it as betrayal. You can think of it as a way to help. You help me...and you help Will."

Merlin wasn't exactly surprised he was trying to use Will as a bargaining chip, but it still disgusted him.

"The world of journalism can sometimes be a cutthroat business," Edwin continued. "There are many that would kill for the opportunity I'm offering your friend. I would hate for Mr. Gaines to truly lose out."

Merlin shook his head. "Edwin, I'm very sorry for what happened to your family. If you want revenge, you want a story, I can't blame you. But I want no part of it." He looked behind him and inched closer to the door.

Edwin didn't seem phased by Merlin's last response. He walked back to his desk and reached into one of the drawers. "All I ask is that you think about it." 

He sauntered back over to Merlin as Merlin reached behind him for the doorknob.

He brandished a small black book and a gold wedding band. Edwin pressed them into Merlin's hand. "I'm not such a bad guy."

Merlin gulped. He looked down at the items in his hand. He was relieved that he finally had them, but he knew he'd be even more relieved to get out of that office. 

He noticed something sticking out of the top of the book. When he opened it, something fell on the floor. Merlin leaned down to pick it up. It was an old faded photograph. A blonde woman, who looked strikingly similar to Arthur, was smiling broadly. She was leaning over slightly and looked directly at the camera. There was such warmth and fondness in her eyes directed at whoever she was looking at. Her hair fell down around her shoulders in long golden waves. He knew this must be Arthur’s mother.

Suddenly, Merlin had such a vivid image of the woman smiling flash in his mind. It felt like she was smiling down at him. An intense feeling of sadness suddenly hit him. Merlin shook himself. 

He looked up at Edwin one more time. He was eyeing Merlin closely again. He looked as if he was trying to burn a hole in Merlin's soul. 

Merlin turned around and left as quickly as possible.

~*~

Will hated not knowing what was happening between Merlin and Edwin. He was annoyed that, even though Edwin was his boss that he was left out of it. Edwin had said this was their story - he should be involved in what was going on since it had everything to do with the story.

But Merlin had made it clear he didn't want Will around, so Will decided to sit it out this once to make it easier for him.

Waiting around at home for Merlin to come back was horrible. He found he could barely sit still. He trudged up to his room and decided to find something to keep his mind occupied.

When he got to his room, he sat at his desk and his eyes landed on the first desk drawer. He slowly opened it and pulled out a medium-sized black album.

He had put as many of his dad's newspaper clippings that he could find in there. Ealdor was a relatively small town and his father, Henry, had worked for their only paper _The Ealdor Times_. But his father’s aspirations went beyond Ealdor. He had wanted to travel and write stories that made a difference - so he did.

For a long time Will had resented his father for not really being around a lot, but that changed after he died. His father had been killed in retaliation for a story he'd written. It was a story that struck a chord because it took place not far from Ealdor.

Cenred Thomson was the rich and powerful Attorney General of Essetir. He had been running a sex slave ring that Henry had worked to expose. Cenred's men got wind of the story and had threatened Will's father, but Henry was a man of principles, and refused to back down.

He exposed Cenred in a story that he wrote for _The Ealdor Times_ \- a story that really raised Ealdor's national profile significantly. In retaliation one of Cenred's men - though it could never be proven Cenred had ordered it - had killed Henry.

Instead of being resentful of his work finally permanently taking his father away from him, Will realized what a hero his father was. He read all of his stories and realized how his father had made a difference in so many people's lives.

His father prided himself on taking down powerful and corrupt men and making sure they didn't get away with harming people who couldn't defend themselves. 

Those were the stories Will wanted to tell as well. He truly did want to make a difference and he believed that Edwin wanted the same.

Will had just finished re-reading the first story in the album when he heard the front door slam. He gently put the album away and then raced downstairs.

Merlin was walking to the kitchen as Will got downstairs. 

Will waited for Merlin to say something as he got a bottle of water out of the fridge. 

Merlin closed the refrigerator and leaned against it as he played with the water bottle top. He finally looked up at Will. “Will, I think there is seriously something wrong with your boss.”

Will furrowed his brow. “What are you talking about?”

Merlin sighed. “I assume Edwin didn’t tell you what happened to his father?”

Will shook his head. 

“It turns out Edwin’s father and Uther were friends. Edwin’s father was Uther’s wife’s surgeon and she died while he was operating on her. Uther blamed him for her death and worked to make sure that he ruined Edwin’s father’s life. He had his medical license revoked and had him arrested where Edwin’s father committed suicide.”

Will’s jaw was practically on the floor when Merlin was finished. “That’s bloody awful.” He ran a hand through his hair. "No wonder he wants to know if Uther is here."

Merlin took a sip of his water. "Yeah. He insists he wants to find Uther for the story and not for revenge."

"See. Why would you say there's something wrong with him after hearing what Uther did to his family?"

"Because I don't believe that he doesn't want revenge." Merlin sighed and shook his head. "You weren't there, Will, you didn't see him. There was something about his eyes that was just...off."

"His eyes?!" Will threw his hands up. He couldn't Merlin was reacting this way. He didn't understand why Merlin disliked Edwin. "You're just determined to find fault with him." He walked away in a huff.

Merlin followed him. "That's not true. It wasn't just the look in his eyes. Can you believe he actually asked me to spy on Arthur for him?"

Will only pondered this for a second before he shrugged. "So what?"

Merlin's eyes bulged as he stared at Will. "'So what?'" He rubbed his hand over his face. "You don't get why I would have a problem with that?"

Will shook his head. "I sort of get it. You're sort of a naive person. Merlin, you tend to live in this world where you think everything is just black and white and things are never that simple. Sometimes you have to do dodgy things for the greater good."

Merlin scoffed. "How would spying on Arthur be for the greater good? I've done nothing but lie to Arthur for ages now and I don't want to do it anymore."

"Why? Arthur's not your best friend. I am. Why can't you just do this for me?" He jabbed his finger in Merlin's chest. "You owe me this."

Merlin took a step back and almost backed into their couch. "I owe you? You're my best friend and I love you, but how do I owe you this?"

Will took a deep breath. "Because you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me."

Merlin rubbed his forehead. "You've completely lost me."

Will walked over to the small red couch and sat down. He looked up at Merlin. "You know that your father never wanted you to come to Camelot."

"I know." Merlin sighed. "My father is a stubborn man, but I've never seen him so obstinate about something. But after a _lot_ of talking my mother was finally able to convince him."

"Only because she convinced me to come here with you."

Merlin slowly sat down next to Will. "I know coming to Camelot wasn't your plan, but you said you thought you could have a good opportunity here and you wanted to be close to me."

"I lied." Will said without thinking.

Merlin looked crestfallen.

Will put his hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Merlin, you're my best mate and I do...love you, but you know it's always been a dream of mine to work at the same paper my father did. I mean, coming here and meeting someone like Edwin, has made it worthwhile, but I didn't want to be here."

"But my mother asked you to?" Merlin practically whispered.

Will nodded. "I know I'm not a great role model and half the time you get in trouble is because of me-"

"Half?" Merlin interjected.

Will chuckled and continued. "But your mum figured that we had better odds together to stay safe. Your father wouldn't have let you come alone. He was talking about not paying for school."

Merlin looked down at the ground and exhaled slowly. "I'd like to think my father wouldn't have done that to me, but it's not entirely surprising to hear." He patted Will's back. "But I would have found a way, Will. You know how I get when I have my mind set on something."

Will grinned. "I know. But it would have been a real struggle and I didn't want to see you and your father be on the outs because of this."

Merlin bit his lip and looked at Will out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you for coming with me."

Will nodded. 

"But..." Merlin blew out a breath. "I still don't think I could be a spy."

"Merlin, you're making it more complicated than it needs to be. You only need to find out one thing. It shouldn't be that difficult."

There was a part of him that hated asking Merlin to do this. No matter how easy it seemed, he knew it was something that would weigh heavily on Merlin's conscience, but he could see why Edwin asked him to do it. Merlin could hold the key to breaking this story.

Will held up his hands in a prayer gesture. "Please? Can't you do this for me?"

~*~

Arthur is almost embarrassed at how excited he is as he stood in front of the veterinary hospital practically bouncing up and down. He tried to convince himself that it was mostly excitement to see Kilgharrah - who he truly did miss - but he knew that he was also looking forward to seeing a certain big eared employee.

He was there right as they opened and Arthur had to wait for Gaius to open the door. Gaius didn't seem surprised to see him as he stood back to let Arthur inside.

"Good morning, Gaius." Arthur smiled.

Gaius nodded. "Good morning."

Arthur looked around the front room. "Nothing's changed, has it? I can still take Killy home today?"

"Yes." Gaius walked over to the front desk where a white paper bag had been placed. "I have antibiotics for Kilgharrah with instructions for when to give them to her and some things to look for as she recovers. She could have some blood around the stitches, her leg may shake, etc. but that's normal."

Arthur took the bag from him. "Alright, thank you."

"Also, she is wearing an e-collar," Gaius started.

"E-collar?"

"Yes. It's a plastic cone to keep her from licking the stitches," Gaius explained. "I'd advise you not take it off for at least another day."

Arthur made note of that in his head. "Alright." He looked behind Gaius. "Where is she?"

The corners of Gaius's mouth turned up slightly. "She seemed to be a bit restless this morning, so Merlin took her into the employee rest area."

Gaius told Arthur where he could find the rest area and Arthur immediately rushed off.

When Arthur got to the room, he stopped in his tracks. He covered his mouth to hide his huge grin.

Merlin was laid out on a thin brown cot in the corner of the room. Kilgharrah was sprawled almost completely on top of him, with her head hanging over the side of the cot. They were both sound asleep. He could hear soft snoring coming from Kilgharrah.

Arthur had to fight the instinct to take out his phone and snap a picture of the two of them.

He slowly walked over and stood over them. Arthur was surprised that Kilgharrah didn't wake up immediately. He didn’t want to be creepy and watch Merlin sleep, but he couldn’t help pausing for a few moments before he cleared his throat.

Kilgharrah did wake up and looked up at him. Merlin only stirred slightly and turned his head. Arthur could a slight spot of drool at the corner of his mouth.

Arthur cleared his throat louder. “Merlin?”

Merlin slowly opened his eyes and blinked. He sighed and turned his head back around and spotted Arthur finally.

Arthur grinned.

Merlin’s eyes widened and he suddenly tried to sit up, but forgot that Kilgharrah was weighing him down, and was barely able to budge. He rubbed at his eyes. “Arthur, I…” He looked down at Kilgharrah as his cheeks reddened. “Wow, she’s heavy.”

“And she still thinks she’s a puppy.” His grin widened. “She really likes you, though to be fair, she’s not really that discerning.”

“Ha, bloody, ha!” Merlin completed with a fake laugh.

Arthur turned serious. “Thank you for taking care of her.”

Merlin nodded. He once again tried to gently get out from under Kilgharrah.

Arthur leaned down and stroked Kilgharrah’s back. “Come on, Killy. Get up. You’re probably squeezing some very important parts of Merlin.”

Merlin sputtered and his cheeks impossibly became even redder. He stroked Killy’s nose. “I need to get up, please.”

Kilgharrah immediately got up.

Arthur shook his head slowly, but was chuckling. “Is she my dog or yours?”

Merlin just laughed as he finally got up.

Arthur watched Kilgharrah and she seemed to be walking alright, but he was still concerned. “Should I let her walk around or get her like some…”

“Dog crutches,” Merlin interrupted.

Arthur looked up at him seriously. “Is that a real thing?”

“No,” Merlin smiled warmly. “Not that I’m aware of.” He looked over at Kilgharrah. “It’s fine. She shouldn’t be moving around too much, but dogs usually know their own limits.”

“Okay.” Arthur stared at the floor and rubbed the back of his neck as he lingered close to Merlin. After another second or two of awkwardness, he coughed. “I should probably get her home.”

“Right.” Merlin nodded. 

Arthur started to walk away.

“Wait!” Merlin suddenly shouted. “I can’t believe I almost forgot.” He ran down the hall and ducked into another room. He quickly came back out and seemed somewhat nervous as he extended his hand. 

Arthur looked down and saw his mother and father’s book. Arthur took it from him.

Merlin fished something out of his pocket. “Your mother’s ring.”

Arthur stared at Merlin as he took it out of his hand. “You got them back.”

“I said I would. I try and keep my promises.”

Arthur wasn’t sure what to say. 

“I know how much this meant to you and, again I’m so sorry, for my part in taking them.”

Arthur waved off his apology. “You don’t need to keep apologizing. You’ve more than made up for it.”

Merlin pursed his lips and looked down shyly. 

Arthur ran his hand over the cover of the book.

Merlin stared at it in his hands. “Ugh, there was a picture of your mother in the book. She was really beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Arthur whispered.

“You look so much like her, it’s amazing.”

“I know. My father’s told me that.” Arthur sighed. “I don’t know if it makes it harder or easier for him.”

“Do you see him often?” Merlin suddenly asked.

Arthur exhaled loudly. Things felt so nice between him and Merlin. He didn’t want to mess it up with a lie, but didn’t know what else to say. “Not as much I would like.”

Merlin just nodded slowly. 

Arthur turned to Kilgharrah and then back to face Merlin. “I really should get her home.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you again.”

“It was my pleasure.” Merlin smiled.

Arthur smiled back before turning to Kilgharrah and heading out.

~*~

Merlin absolutely hated shopping. He hated shopping in malls. He hated shopping in malls on the weekend and yet he found himself doing just that. Yet another person bumped into him without having the manners to even feign an apology. He vowed, once again, to just find something and get out as soon as possible. But that was easier said than done, since he’d never gotten anyone an engagement gift before.

Even though Gwen and Lance insisted they didn’t need anything, it seemed only right to get them something. And as much as Merlin hated being in a busy shopping center, it was actually a lesser evil than being home right now. 

To Will’s credit, he tried not to pressure Merlin too often about getting information from Arthur, but he still watched Merlin incessantly and always looked at him as if he was waiting for Merlin to spill some vital information at any moment. It was too much for Merlin, so he found a lot of excuses to be out of the house.

Even though he knew he would never be able to afford anything in there, he stopped by a jewelry shop. He was right. He saw the astronomical price of a plain looking gold bracelet and bolted. He ran smack into someone.

“Idiot, can’t you see...” 

“I’m sorry...”

They spoke at the same time and both trailed off when they saw who they had bumped into.

“Arthur!” Merlin tried to hold back his smile, but couldn’t help it. 

Arthur’s expression turned from sour to pleasant in an instant.

“Merlin.” He looked behind Merlin at the store he had just came out of. “Were you just in Tiffany’s?”

Merlin nodded. “Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?”

Arthur shrugged. “You just don’t strike me as someone who would shop there. Are you shopping for a g-girlfriend or something?”

Merlin chuckled. “No. I don’t have a girlfriend. Girlfriends aren’t really…” He cleared his throat. “I’ve never had a girlfriend because…”

“You’re gay?” Arthur asked in an easy tone.

“Right. Yes.” Merlin laughed. “I don’t know why I had a hard time saying it. I tell people all the time. Not that I go around announcing it to complete strangers…” Merlin stopped and took a deep breath. 

Ever since Kilgharrah’s accident and the thawing in their relationship, Merlin had felt like his crush on Arthur had come back a thousand times stronger and he was increasingly nervous around him. He could barely look at him in class.

Arthur smiled. “Merlin, it’s fine. You don’t need to explain.”

Merlin chuckled.

They started walking together.

“Are you here for any particular reason?” Merlin asked after a few minutes of companionable silence.

Arthur sighed. “I’ve been here for hours. I’m trying to find something for Lance and Gwen.”

Merlin pointed at his chest. “Me, too. I bloody hate shopping.”

Arthur grinned. “I feel the same. I should have just done some on-line shopping, but I think I’m too old-fashioned for that.”

“Do you know what you’re looking for?”

Arthur scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not sure. I want to get something nice, but I’m not sure if I can afford nice.”

Merlin laughed a bit too loudly at that. He shook his head. “I’m sorry, but aren’t you rich?”

Arthur shook his head. “No.”

“But I heard that the Pendragons used to be one of the richest families in Camelot,” Merlin said.

“Used to be,” Arthur stressed. “After my mother died, my father started making bad investments and spending unwisely. He lost most of his money a long time ago.”

“I’m so sorry.” Merlin patted his shoulder.

Arthur smiled. “You don’t need to feel too sorry for me. My mother left some money in a trust I get when I turn twenty-five. But for now…”

“You’re like the rest of us meager paupers,” Merlin joked.

Arthur laughed. “Not quite, but close enough I suppose.”

“So, maybe you should think a little outside of the box for a gift,” Merlin suggested.

Arthur raised his eyebrow. “Do you have something in mind?”

It took a little convincing, but Arthur agreed to go off with Merlin without Merlin telling him where they were going. Merlin thought it would be a fun surprise.

They got out of Arthur’s car and he looked at Merlin skeptically. “An animal shelter?”

Merlin shrugged. “Yeah. Why not? Lance is such a good vet, but he doesn’t have a pet of his own. I think it would make a cute gift.”

Arthur cocked his head to the side and looked up at the blue building. “You’re probably right.” They started to walk to the front door. “I could get Gwen a cat.”

Merlin put his hand on Arthur’s arm and stopped him. “A cat?”

Arthur turned to look at him. “Yeah. Why not?”

Merlin pursed his lips and shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just my humble opinion that cats are the guardians of hell and far inferior pets.”

Arthur threw back his head and laughed.

Merlin was fascinated by the sight.

Arthur’s laughter trailed off. “Don’t hold back your opinion, Merlin.”

“I’m just being honest.” Merlin smiled. “Why don’t you get her a cute, fluffy dog?”

“Well, if it was up to me I would, but since this for Gwen I think a cat would be better. She had a cat when she was ten that she really loved and she was devastated when he ran away.”

“Wow, that’s really thoughtful.”

Arthur ran his hand through his hair as he laughed again. “Don’t sound so surprised.”

“I can’t help it. You’re full of surprises. Good surprises.” Merlin admitted. He was getting a little embarrassed because he could feel himself starting to blush.

Arthur squinted against the sun as he stared at Merlin.

Merlin wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn he saw Arthur blushing as well.

Arthur scuffed the cement with his shoe. “Killy misses you.”

Merlin grinned. “Really? I miss her, too.”

Arthur swallowed as he looked up at Merlin. “Maybe after this you wouldn’t mind coming to my house for a visit with her?”

Merlin hesitated for only a second as he looked at Arthur’s hopeful expression. “I would love to.”

~*~

Arthur wasn’t sure if he had made a mistake. He had just really blurted out his invitation to Merlin without thinking about it. He had been having so much fun with him, he dreaded the thought of the day ending, but he wasn’t sure if Merlin coming to his house was a great idea. Part of him was worried that if Merlin spent too much time at the house, his memories might be triggered. Then again, he was beginning to wonder if that would be such a bad thing.

Arthur had called his father and made sure he knew they would be arriving. They didn’t take long at the clinic. They met a lot of sweet, lovely animals but Arthur was instantly smitten with a golden Persian named Sefa. He was so smitten, he briefly thought of getting it for himself, but decided against it. Kilgharrah probably wouldn’t approve.

Arthur was nervous when they got to his house. He didn’t want Kilgharrah to attack Sefa so they kept her in the cat carrier away from her. Luckily, Kilgharrah was still recuperating, and other than padding over to the carrier and sniffing it once, she didn’t bother with it.

Arthur and Merlin threw around a tennis ball with Kilgharrah, until she got bored of it. She gently rolled onto her back and Merlin started scratching her belly.

Arthur quickly fed Sefa while Kilgharrah was distracted. 

Merlin looked over as Arthur stroked Sefa’s fur. “Do you think Gwen will like her?”

Arthur looked down at the cat and nodded. “Yeah. It’s not the same cat that she had back then, but I think she’ll think Sefa’s cute.”

“How did you meet Gwen? Merlin asked as Kilgharrah rolled over and put her head in his lap.

“In college. We dated briefly, but it just...didn’t work out. I was really grateful we were able to stay in touch. She was the first friend I had made in so long,” Arthur explained.

“Why didn’t you make friends?” Merlin seemed to hesitate before asking.

Arthur let out a long breath. “It was hard after my father...went away. I was ten and I had to move in with my uncle Agravaine, who I knew didn’t want me there. I had a hard time trusting people, so I kept to myself. People thought I was a snob.”

Arthur put Sefa back in the carrier and walked over to the brown leather couch in the middle of the family room.

“I’m sorry, Arthur.” Merlin walked away from Kilgharrah and sat next to him.

“It is what it is,” Arthur tried to shrug it off. He hated feeling sorry for himself. “I wasn’t completely alone. I had Killy.”

Merlin smiled. He looked around the room. “Where’d she go?” Merlin got up.

Arthur stood up and followed him out. He found Merlin in the room across the hall. He was staring at the dragon painting in the library. Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle. He was still fascinated with that thing after all these years.

He walked over to Merlin. Arthur saw Kilgharrah over by the desk. 

Merlin looked over his shoulder at him. “I don’t know what it is about this painting, but it’s really fascinating. I’ve always kind of loved dragons.”

“I know,” Arthur muttered.

Merlin’s head whipped up. “What?”

Arthur cleared his throat. “Nothing.” He watched Merlin staring at the painting and turned to look at it again after another minute. “Merlin, can I ask you something?”

Merlin briefly looked over at him, before he turned back to the painting. “Sure.”

“How’s your family? Are your parents happy?”

Merlin’s head snapped back and he gave Arthur a funny look.

Arthur tried to feign a nonchalant shrug. “I’m just curious.”

“My father doesn’t always seem to have the happiest personality. I think his face is always permanently set to grim.” He chortled. “But I think he’s content at where he is in his life. I know my parents love each other madly, which is nice, if sometimes embarrassing to see.”

Arthur smiled.

Merlin winced and peered at Arthur. “Was that insensitive?”

Arthur shook his head. “Absolutely not,” he said without hesitation. “I’m very happy that your parents found some happiness.”

Merlin looked at him for another moment and then they both turned back to the painting.

Kilgharrah popped her face in between them. She nudged at Merlin’s leg.

“Hey, what do you got there, girl?” Merlin asked her as he crouched down.

Arthur slowly turned around to look at them. He saw that Kilgharrah had something in her mouth. As Merlin tugged at it, Arthur got a brief glimpse of it, but realized what it was the picture of him and Merlin as kids.

He leaned over and batted Merlin’s hand away. “Kilgharrah, give it to me!”

Kilgharrah looked up at him with sad eyes, but let go when Arthur gently tugged at it. Arthur checked it quickly to make sure Kilgharrah hadn’t damaged it and then put it in his pocket.

Merlin leaned back and eyed Arthur strangely, but he chuckled. “Was that a nude picture of you?”

Arthur shook his head shakily. He turned around and took a deep breath. That was definitely too close. He realized he should have trusted his instincts and not brought Merlin over. It wasn’t fair to Merlin. He was lying to him and he wasn’t sure when that was going to stop.

“Merlin, I think you should go.”

The smile fell from Merlin’s face in a flash. “What? Why?”

Arthur slowly faced him, but couldn’t meet his eyes. “Because I don’t think we can be friends.”

Merlin opened and closed his mouth several times. He looked so confused. It was killing Arthur. “I don’t understand. Why can’t we be? We were just fine a second ago.”

“I’ve reconsidered.” Arthur panted a bit as he tried to come up with an excuse as to why. “I don’t have friends.”

Merlin stepped closer to him. “But you’re friends with Gwen.”

“We’re not that close.”

“You just bought her a cat.”

Arthur pointed at him. “That was your idea.” Arthur ran his hands through his hair. “Look, Merlin you’re practically my student so this,” he gestured vaguely between them, “isn’t a good idea.”

“I’m not your student and I’m not an idiot. There’s something else.” Merlin crossed his arms over his chest.

“Merlin...Merlin…” He sighed. “I can’t explain it. Just being friends with me isn’t a good idea, alright?”

Merlin’s expression darkened and he stalked past Arthur. He whirled around as he got to the door. “You know how I said before that you’re full of good surprises? I take it back.” He frowned and looked over at Kilgharrah before leaving.

Arthur dropped his head in his hand and rubbed roughly at his eyes. When he looked up, Kilgharrah was crouching in front of him. She looked at him mournfully, before she trotted out of the room. 

Arthur looked up at the ceiling. “Great, even she’s mad at me.”

He trudged out of the room lost in thought. He went back to the family room and went over to Sefa. He was just about to pick up the carrier when his father walked into the room.

Arthur merely sighed as he looked over at him. “Let me guess, you know what just happened?”

Uther looked down somewhat sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help eavesdropping. I heard you laughing and I wanted to see for myself.”

Arthur met his father in the middle of the room. “Laughing until I pushed him away.”

“Why did you do that?” 

Arthur walked past him and sunk down on the couch. “He almost saw that picture of the two of us as boys and I just panicked. I don’t know how I can have him in my life.”

Uther stood before him. “I know that you’re lying to him and how much you hate that, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be friends.”

Arthur put his head against the back of the couch and sighed. “Father, until months ago I hadn’t seen Merlin in fifteen years Now I see him all the time, but I don’t know him that well and yet I still feel…” Arthur licked his lips. “I still feel something for him that scares me.” He looked into his father’s eyes. “I want to be more than friends. Father, I’m gay.”

Uther sat next to him and gently put his hand on his knee. “I know.”

Arthur’s gaped at his father. “You know? How?”

“I’ve watched you. I’ve seen the way you look at Merlin.” Uther gave a slight frown. “It’s the way I used to look at your mother.”

Arthur didn’t know what to say.

“I heard you tell Merlin that you were scared to fall in love because of what happened after I lost your mother.”

“I didn’t mean anything bad by it,” Arthur started to explain.

Uther patted his knee. “It’s alright. I understand, but I want you to understand that loving your mother was one of the greatest things I’ve ever had the privilege to do. Even if someone had come to me and told me what would happen to her, I still wouldn’t have hesitated to be with her.”

Arthur sighed shakily and sniffed.

“If you have the chance to have something even half as wonderful with Merlin, please don’t close off your heart, Arthur - especially not because of me.” Uther smiled at him. 

~*~

Merlin was still stewing about what happened with Arthur as he got home. He slammed the door and stomped up the stairs. He had barely set foot in his room, before Will followed him in there.

“What’s eating you?”

Merlin paced in front of his bed. “Nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” Will sounded concerned. It was the first time he reminded him of the Will he used to know. “Where were you?”

“I was at Arthur’s house,” Merlin answered.

Will’s mouth fell open and he walked in front of Merlin and put a stop to his pacing. “Well, did you see Uther? Did you find out anything?”

Merlin narrowed his eyes. There was the new Will. All he cared about was Uther Pendragon and getting in good with his creepy boss. Merlin cocked his head to the side. “Yeah. After being there for only five minutes, Arthur trotted his father down and we talked about life in an institution over fish and chips.”

Will frowned. “Come on, Merlin be serious.”

“Why? This is all just funny to me.” He threw back his head and groaned. “You know I never told you that I was going to spy on Arthur. Even if I wanted to tell you something, I can’t because Arthur threw me out and said he doesn’t want me around.” His stomach knotted just thinking about it again.

Once again, for a split second Will looked sympathetic - not just for the fate of his story, but for his friend. But it didn’t last. “I’m sorry, Merlin. You have to find a way to get close to him again.”

“How about I offer to sleep with him?” Merlin growled. He advanced on Will until Will started to move back. “Perhaps you wouldn’t mind me prostituting myself all in the name of your bloody story.”

Merlin didn’t wait for a response as Will stepped outside his room. He slammed the door in his face. He threw himself on his bed. He just wanted the day to be over with.

~*~

Arthur had brought Kilgharrah over to Gaius for a check-up. He was distracted the entire time though because he kept looking to see Merlin, even though Gaius told him he wouldn’t be there for another half hour. 

Thankfully, Killy was doing fine and healing well after the accident. Arthur thanked Gaius again. Kilgharrah took off without him and Arthur had a feeling why. He hurriedly followed Kilgharrah. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Merlin lean over to stroke Kilgharrah’s head. 

Merlin seemed to stiffen when Arthur walked in the room. He stood up straight and seemed to purposefully not look at Arthur.

“Hello, Merlin.”

Merlin didn’t say anything. He walked over to the reception desk.

Arthur supposed he deserved the silent treatment. He wanted to go over and say something, but didn’t know what or think Merlin would be receptive. He turned to leave. Kilgharrah was blocking the door.

“Killy, come on we have to go.” 

She just whined at him and refused to move. She sat down in front of the door.

Arthur leaned over. “What am I supposed to do?” Arthur whispered. “He doesn’t want to talk to me.”

Kilgharrah looked at him briefly, before putting her head down again.

Arthur straightened. He slowly turned around. He stiffly walked over to Merlin. “Merlin, can I speak to you privately?”

Merlin slowly looked around. “There’s no one else here.”

Arthur sighed. “I know, but we’re out in the open and Gaius and Lance are here.”

“So, what? Why do you want to talk to me? We’re not friends, remember?” Merlin said with such bitterness Arthur flinched.

“I’m sorry I said we can’t be friend. I’d like to explain.” Arthur looked down at Merlin expectantly.

Merlin closed his eyes and exhaled loudly. “Fine.” He took Arthur into a close by exam room and closed the door. “Explain.”

Arthur wrung his hands. “Uh...I wasn’t really lying before when I said I don’t have friends. I know I’m friends with Gwen, but it’s not always easy and it’s harder with you.”

Merlin shook his head. “Why?”

“Because I don’t know how to act around you. I care about what you think of me and I don’t want to ruin anything.” Arthur could scarcely believe he was admitting something that displayed such vulnerability, but Merlin seemed to have that effect on him.

Merlin pursed his lips and seemed to be fighting a smile. He looked up at Arthur. “You know it doesn’t have to be so hard. We could just spend some time together and get to know each other better. I promise I won’t run off if you say something prattish. I’m kind of used to it already.”

Arthur grinned.

“I actually have tickets to a concert tomorrow night. We could go together,” Merlin offered.

“Would this be a date?” Arthur tried to keep the hope out of his voice.

Merlin looked up at him. “Not necessarily. We don’t have to put any labels on it yet.”

Arthur nodded. “Alright.”

“So you’re saying yes?” 

Arthur smiled a mile wide. “Yes.”

Merlin slowly walked over and opened the door. He almost bumped into Gaius and Lance who both looked like they had just been found with their hand in the cookie jar. 

Merlin and Arthur exchanged glances and just laughed.

~*~

Merlin laughed as Arthur and he walked up to Arthur’s front door. 

Arthur was sticking a finger in his ear and pretending to clear it out. “I can’t believe how loud that music was.”

“It wasn’t that bad.” Merlin defended his choice.

Arthur cupped a hand behind his ear. “What?” He yelled. “You’ll have to speak up. I’ve gone deaf you know.”

Merlin just laughed harder.

“You should have told me we were going to listen to the devil’s music.” Arthur continued to protest.

Merlin had to admit that maybe he should have alerted Arthur to the type of music they’d be listening to. It was his new friend Gwaine’s band The Knights, a metal band. He suspected it wouldn’t really be Arthur’s cup of tea. He hadn’t considered it when he asked Arthur to go with him. He just wanted to spend time with Arthur.

He was about to apologize when Arthur opened his front door. He gestured with his head to the inside. ‘Would you like to come in?”

Merlin only hesitated because of what happened the last time he was there, but he decided to put it behind them. He nodded and walked in as Arthur held open the door.

Arthur helped him take off his jacket. His fingers brushed against his arms and Merlin valiantly held in a shiver. He almost lost his train of thought.

They walked to the library where they’d had their previous confrontation. Merlin tried not to get distracted by the dragon painting. 

“Is that your favorite type of music?” Arthur asked as he turned the lights on.

They moved to sit down on the leather couch.

“Not really.” Merlin considered this. “I don’t mind it, but it’s not a favorite of mine. I think my favorite is more indie pop, like Snow Patrol.”

Arthur smiled. “I like them. I’ll tell you something embarrassing.”

Merlin leaned in close.

“I cry every time I hear “Chasing Cars,” Arthur whispered.

“It is a really beautiful song.”

“It is, but I cry more because I associate it with that scene in _Grey’s Anatomy_.”

Merlin threw his head back and laughed. “You watch that?” He would not have taken Arthur for a fan of that show.

“I used to,” Arthur answered.

“Me, too. I couldn’t do it after the fourth season. It really started to go downhill.”

Arthur nodded. “Absolutely.”

They looked at each other and just started to laugh. Merlin certainly did not think this was what they’d end up talking about on their first date. He smiled at Arthur again. “What kind of music do you like?”

Arthur grinned but didn’t answer. He got up and went over to the left bookshelf and pulled out a record. He put it on the record player that was also on the bookshelf. Soon enough classical music filled the room.

“This is Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” It was my mother’s favorite,” Arthur explained.

Merlin didn’t think he’d heard it before. It sounded like the sweeping kind of romantic music you’d find in a classic movie.

Merlin walked over to Arthur, who had his eyes closed as he listened.

He opened his eyes and smiled widely at Merlin. “My mother was a world class musician. She predominantly played the piano, but she was also a wonderful violinist.”

Arthur stopped the record playing and put on another one. 

Merlin closed his eyes to listen. It sounded really haunting and beautiful. He didn’t know where he’d heard it before, but it sounded familiar. He opened his eyes. “Where would I have heard this before?”

Arthur looked down and pursed his lips. “I don’t think you’ve heard it before. My mother composed it. It’s her performing.”

Merlin nodded slowly. It was weird how much the music struck a chord with him. He glanced up at Arthur. “Do you play these often?”

“I try not to. It depresses my...me. Sometimes it depresses me.”

Merlin put his hand on top of Arthur’s. “You don’t have to play it for me, if it’s too painful.”

Arthur put his hand over Merlin’s and stared into his eyes. “I wanted to share it with you.”

Merlin’s breath caught in his throat as Arthur leaned in closer. He’d wanted a kiss from Arthur for ages and he wished that he could just close his eyes and enjoy what was about to happen, but the guilt started to eat away at him.

Arthur was once again sharing something so personal and important to him and he was once again holding something back. 

As much as it killed him to do it, he pulled back when Arthur’s lips were a hair’s breadth from his.

Arthur held on to the bookshelf to steady himself. He opened his eyes and he looked so taken aback. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have made any assumptions.”

Merlin stepped closer to him and grabbed Arthur’s hand. “No. You didn’t assume wrong. I just...I don’t want to start anything with you like this.”

“Like what?”

Merlin leaned back against the bookcase. “You remember when I told you that Edwin wanted Will to find out where your father is?”

Arthur grunted. “It’s not something I could really forget.”

Merlin took a deep breath. “Well, he wanted me to do the same thing.”

Arthur narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t tell me that before.”

“It happened after I told you about it, when I went to get your father’s book and your mother’s wedding ring. Edwin told me everything your father did.”

Arthur’s breath faltered. He backed up a few steps. “Everything?”

“He told me what your father did to his and to another friend of his,” Merlin elaborated. 

Arthur turned around and walked to the far wall and leaned against it.

“He wanted me to spy on you and tell him where Uther was so I could help my friend.” Merlin’s voice trembled. Not being able to see Arthur’s face was distressing him. He didn’t know how Arthur was taking this.

Arthur turned back around and slowly walked over to Merlin. “Were you going to do that? Is that why you invited me to the concert?”

Merlin had been wondering that himself. He didn’t want to spy on Arthur, but he was torn about helping Will. He still hadn’t officially told Will and Edwin he wouldn’t do it, but he knew in his heart he couldn’t do that to Arthur. He shook his head. “No. I want to help Will, but I didn’t want to hurt you. Please believe I never would have told Edwin anything.”

Arthur gazed into his eyes for a moment. Finally, he nodded. 

Merlin wiped his hand across his face. “God, Will is going to be so upset with me.”

Arthur stared at Merlin curiously. “Then why’d you tell me?”

Merlin turned toward him. “I told you I didn’t want to hurt you. You really matter to me, Arthur.”

Merlin was startled when Arthur grabbed his face and suddenly kissed him hard on the mouth. He pulled back slowly.

Merlin stared at him with unblinking eyes.

Arthur rubbed his thumb softly against Merlin’s cheek.

Merlin tried to speak, but no words came out. Finally, he found his voice. “I’m sorry. I might have blacked out there for a second. Could you repeat that?”

Arthur’s smile lit up his face as he leaned in again. 

This time Merlin really savored the kiss as Arthur tenderly brushed his lips against Merlin’s, increasing the pressure when Merlin let out a little gasp. One of his hands held Merlin’s cheek as the other wrapped around Merlin and held him close.

As Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck, he deepened the kiss.

Gradually, Arthur pulled away nipping playfully at Merlin’s mouth one last time.

Absolutely nothing could have wiped the smile off his face as Merlin opened his eyes and saw Arthur radiating such happiness Merlin wanted to tackle him to the ground and plant kisses all over him.

They held hands for a moment and just stared at each other. 

The mood was almost broken when Merlin felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He saw that Will was calling and ignored it. It was getting very late.

“I probably should go.” Merlin had to reluctantly announce.

Arthur frowned slightly. “I know.”

They let go of each other’s hands and Arthur walked him to his car. He dropped Merlin off at his house and walked him to his door. Arthur leaned against the doorjamb and his stare was so intense, Merlin wanted to change his mind and just go back to Arthur’s place.

“When can I see you again?”

For some reason, Arthur turned very serious and gulped. “Merlin, I need to tell you something.”

Oh, God. And things were going so well. This was bad news, he just knew it.

Arthur looked down at the ground and blew out a breath. When he looked up at Merlin, he gave a slight grin. “I just wanted to say this was the best night I’ve had in quite some time.”

Merlin smiled. “Me, too.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait.” Merlin knew he sounded lovesick and goofy, but he didn’t care. He practically danced his way up to his room.

~*~

Will knew how annoyed Merlin was getting with him and decided not to ask him how things went with Arthur the previous night. He knew that Merlin would eventually come around and help him because that was the kind of friend he was.

It seemed that whatever happened with Arthur that Merlin was in astoundingly good mood. Will invited him to play some videogames with him. They started off with Mario Kart and ended up “playing” Skyrim, which Merlin kept complaining was too boring.

At some point, Merlin got a text and his mood brightened even more. 

“Was that Arthur?” Will tried to ask casually.

Merlin just gave a jerky nod.

Will didn’t press him any further.

Merlin sighed in disgust and set down his controller. “Alright, this is far too boring. I want to change the game.”

“Too bad. I don’t.” Will insisted even though he really didn’t care. He just liked giving Merlin a hard time.

“Alright. Let’s make a little bet,” Merlin started. 

Will groaned. He knew what Merlin was going to suggest because he always did it when he was trying to get his way. Even though Merlin always won, Will agreed to it because it was fun.

“Let’s see who can stuff more Oreo’s in their mouths,” Merlin finished. 

Will grinned. “I don’t think we have any Oreo’s.”

“Did you not do the shopping this week?”

“Yeah, I did but I didn’t think Oreo’s were a necessity.” Will shrugged.

Merlin turned to him. “Will, you know me. Oreo’s are always a necessity.”

Will laughed. It felt easy between them again, which was lovely.

Merlin chuckled and clutched Will’s shoulder. “I love you, mate!”

Will looked down and shook his head. “For the millionth time Merlin you have to get me hammered first and then I might consider making out with you.”

“Oh, really?” Merlin leaned over and started kissing Will all over his face.

“Oy, this is harassment!” Will yelled while laughing.

Merlin went over to his side of the couch. 

Will got up and tried to find another game to play.

Merlin cleared his throat behind him. "Uh, has your boss said anything else about your promotion?"

Will glanced behind him. "No. You know what will make that happen."

"Aren't there any other big stories you could break?"

Will stopped looking for games and turned around. "No, not for Edwin."

Merlin twisted the black controller in his hand. "There have to be other papers, right?"

"Merlin, what are you on about? You know I want _this_ job." He was getting a bad feeling. "What did you do, Merlin?"

Merlin gulped and put the controller down. "I told you before I never agreed to spy on Arthur."

"Yes."

Merlin stood up. "I decided I'm not going to, which is what I told Arthur last night."

Will marched around the small coffee table and stood toe to toe with Merlin. "You did what?"

"I didn't want to lie to him anymore. So I told him what Edwin told me and what he asked me to do and I said I wouldn't do it."

Will threw his hands up. "I can't believe you, Merlin!"

"And I can't believe you!" Merlin pointed at him. "How could you think that I'm someone who could betray someone I care about?"

"Well, you've had no problem doing it to me," Will spit out.

Merlin shook his head. "That's not what I'm doing. This is not going to ruin your life, Will. It might even help. You can do better than working for Edwin."

"You can't decide that, Merlin." Will huffed. He truly never thought he'd see the day where Merlin put a virtual stranger’s happiness over his. "Don't pretend you did this for me! You're choosing Arthur and his twisted father over me."

Merlin tried to protest, but Will didn't want to hear it. He was so angry; he knew he needed to leave and cool down. He started to stomp away.

"Will, wait!"

Will whirled around. "I swear, Merlin, if I lose this job I might never forgive you."

~*~

Arthur was outside playing with Kilgharrah, but he could barely concentrate. He kept replaying his kiss with Merlin over and over. He felt like his face was going to start to hurt from smiling.

He was so lost in thought he didn't notice Kilgharrah at his feet, waiting for the ball. But he was finally brought down to Earth when Kilgharrah started pawing at him.

He chuckled. "Sorry, girl." He threw the green tennis ball, but Killy didn't seem interested in it anymore.

She rolled onto her back and Arthur got on his knees to scratch her belly. That was when Kilgharrah bounced up and started licking Arthur's face all over.

Arthur started giggling. "Your nose is cold, Killy."

He saw his father come out and was pleased to see the smile on his face. Arthur was so happy to see Uther doing so well. When Arthur had given him the book and his mother’s ring back, it really did seem to revitalize him. Arthur had never seen his father smile so brightly.

Kilgharrah trotted over to Uther, but knew better than to give him a tongue bath. Uther scratched her behind her ears.

He walked over to Arthur. "This is a welcome sight. I don't know that I've ever seen you this happy. I take it the date with Merlin went well."

Arthur nodded. "It did. It really did."

Uther grinned. "That's wonderful."

As happy as Arthur was, there was a dark cloud hanging over him. He began to frown. "The only trouble is I'm still lying to Merlin."

Uther sighed.

"I feel awful. Last night he confessed something huge to me because he didn't want to start a relationship on a lie and I couldn't give him the same respect. I can't do that to him." He peered at his father nervously. "I was too nervous to do it last night, but I've decided to tell him the truth."

He wasn't sure how Uther was taking it. He didn't seem upset, but he wasn't exactly happy either. He walked and sat by the patio. Arthur joined him.

"While I would rather as few people know as possible, I can understand why Merlin is an exception. I don't blame you for not wanting to lie to him."

Arthur was relieved to hear that, but was still troubled. He leaned forward. "Do you think Merlin will blame me? What if he can't forgive me for lying to him?"

Uther say back. "Arthur, do you know why I always thought your mother had such a soft spot for Merlin?"

"Because he was cute as a button and he always called her 'Miss Y?'"

Uther laughed. "That was part of it, but I also think she saw a lot of herself in him. He was kind, warm, funny, and thought you were the most important person in the world."

Arthur smiled.

"Your mother was one of the most forgiving people in the world. I have a feeling that Merlin has that in common with her as well."

Arthur nodded and hoped like hell his father was right.

~*~

Merlin was still upset over his fight with Will, but his spirits were lifted when he got to talk with Arthur. He'd enjoyed texting with him all day, but hearing his voice was so much better. 

He had been even happier to hear that Arthur wanted to see him that night.

Merlin knew that he was in trouble already when his heart soared when he heard Arthur laugh. "What's going on?"

"Killy's determined to give me a proper tongue bath today. She's licking my toes," Arthur said as he continued to laugh.

"Well you tell her hands off. I'm the only one that gets to..." Merlin trailed off when he realized how dirty that sounded.

"Gets to what? Lick my toes? My, my Merlin I didn't realize you were so kinky."

Merlin shook his head and put his face in his hand. "That's not what I meant."

"Sure, it's not," Arthur teased.

"If you don't shut it, I might be forced to reconsider coming over tonight." 

Arthur's quieted down. "Oh, no. We can't have that."

Merlin smiled. The smile faded when he saw Will pass by his door to go downstairs. He had been locked away in his room for hours.

"Arthur, I have to go, but I'll see you later."

"I can't wait," Arthur purred.

Merlin's toes curled. "Bye."

"Bye."

Merlin stuffed his phone in his pocket and rushed downstairs. He hadn't made it all the way downstairs, but he called to Will. "Will, please talk to me."

When Merlin got downstairs, he saw that Will was nervously eyeing the door. He was about to ask him why when there was a pounding on the door.

Merlin cautiously went over to answer the insistent knocking. He was startled when as soon as the door was open, Edwin barreled through.

Merlin barely had time to close the door before Edwin basically cornered him.

"Will tells me you've had some sudden attack of conscience," Edwin snarled.

Merlin snakes his hand between them and pushed Edwin back. "There was nothing sudden about it. Unlike you my conscience doesn't just come and go. I never wanted to be your spy."

Edwin looked between him and Will. "But this was for your friend. How could you choose Arthur over your friend?"

Merlin shook his head. "I didn't choose Arthur over Will, but there is no reason I should have to hurt Arthur to help Will." Merlin looked over at Will. "Don't you see how wrong this is?"

Edwin stepped in between them. "I'm not trying to hurt Arthur. I'm not trying to hurt Uther. This is about a sensational news story."

"You can tell that lie all you want, but I don't believe you."

Edwin suddenly started laughing. If Merlin didn't think he was crazy before, he certainly would have then.

Edwin waved his hands in front of him and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just find this highly amusing. You're getting on some high horse because you'd rather shag some bloke, who doesn't care about you, rather than help a friend. That's brilliant."

Merlin walked away from him and further into the den. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Oh, no." Edwin sneered. "Given that you're Mr. Honesty, I would assume lying to your friend, to your potential bedmate, would be considered poor form."

Merlin didn't know what Edwin was trying to hint at and he wasn't sure he wanted to. He eventually spoke up. "Of course."

"Then you might want to ask Arthur about you shared past." Edwin said with such smug satisfaction.

Merlin shook his head and pressed a hand to his temple. He looked back at Will, who seemed to be as lost as he felt. He turned back to Edwin. "I don't know what game you're trying to play here-"

"No game," Edwin interrupted. "This is finally the whole truth." He sauntered over to Merlin. "You're constantly wondering why your father won't set foot in Camelot."

Merlin whipped around to look at Will. "Why would you tell him that?"

Will slowly shook his head. "I didn't."

"I told you that you and I have more in common than you realize."

"And I told you that you're off your rocker." Merlin shot back.

Edwin smirked and ignored Merlin's comment. "I told you my father had a friend who tried to expose Uther's lies and was imprisoned for his troubles. What would you say if I told you that same friend was your father?"

Merlin clutched his stomach and fell back a step. He had to be lying, though in the back of his mind it made a certain sense. 

"That's right, Merlin. I'm telling you the truth. Your father was betrayed by Uther just as Arthur has betrayed you."

Merlin rubbed at his temples. "What does Arthur have to do with this?"

"He's lied to you, Merlin. Hunith, your father, you," Edwin pointed at Merlin. "You all lived in Camelot. You lived in Arthur's house and he remembers every second of it."

Merlin couldn't process this. He closed his eyes and started breathing heavily.

Edwin creeped towards him and got right in his face with a cruel smile. "What do you think of your perfect boyfriend now?"

Merlin didn't know who felt more disgusted with - Edwin, himself, or Arthur. He swiveled around to look at Will who shot him a look of sympathy.

Merlin needed answers from someone he trusted - or at least thought he could trust. He deliberately barreled into Edwin as he ran out of the room.

~*~

Arthur knew Merlin would be there soon, but still hadn't worked out what to do. He thought about preparing a dinner, but didn't know if Merlin might be too mad to eat after he told him the truth.

He decided to head to the kitchen to see what they had just in case. But he was stopped halfway there when he heard a loud banging on the door. Kilgharrah barked.

He was worried who it could be. He didn't think it was Merlin yet. He was pleasantly surprised when he checked through the side glass to see who it was and spotted Merlin. That happiness faded when he opened the door and saw how discombobulated Merlin looked.

Arthur reached out to take Merlin's arm, but he flinched. That startled Arthur, but he tried again. Merlin just moved past him into the house.

After closing the door, Arthur turned back to Merlin. He was practically shaking and Arthur was worried.

Merlin stepped toward him and then suddenly stepped back. He rubbed his eyes before staring up at Arthur. "Are you lying to me, Arthur?"

Arthur sucked in a breath. He tried to recover to give Merlin an answer. "Lying? Lying about what?"

"Did you already know me before we met in class? Did we grow up together?" 

Arthur didn't even bother to wonder who could have told him. He knew who it had to have been, though that wasn't really important right now.

Merlin confirmed Arthur's suspicions. "Edwin told me. Ordinarily, I would just assume he's lying, but there's too much that fits. The way Kilgharrah is around me. Some of the things you've said. The way I feel in this house." Merlin swallowed. "The way I feel around you." He sighed. "I just want to hear you say it."

This wasn't how Arthur had planned on telling him, but it was too late now. He closed his eyes. "Yes." He opened them. "We grew up together here."

Merlin looked up at the ceiling. "Wow. At least you finally admitted it." He looked back at Arthur. "I was that best friend you were telling me about."

"Yes."

"I can't believe I don't remember," Merlin muttered. He looked up at Arthur sharply. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

Arthur stepped closer, but Merlin held out his hand. "I was going to tell you tonight, I swear."

Merlin threw up his hand and laughed. "Of course you were."

"I was!" Arthur insisted.

"Even if I believed you, it still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me before?" Merlin shouted. "You lied to me."

"I know," Arthur started.

Merlin shook his head. "No, don't just say you know. You made me feel like pond scum for lying to you. I know that what I did was wrong, but considering what you were keeping from me, you had no right to judge me."

"I know and I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what he could say to make it right. He wished he had practiced this.

"I just want to know why," Merlin pleaded.

"It's because of me."

Both Arthur and Merlin momentarily froze. With the look on Merlin's face he wondered if Merlin remembered the sound of his father's voice.

Arthur watched his father descend the stairs.

Merlin faces him. His mouth fell open. "You really are here."

Uther just nodded.

Merlin's expression darkened. "If Edwin was telling the truth about Arthur lying to me, then he was probably telling the truth about you." He narrowed his eyes. "You had my father imprisoned?"

"It's more than that."

"Father, please," Arthur interjected. He wasn't sure Merlin needed to know all the gory details right now with everything he was trying to process.

Uther held up his hand. "All of it needs to be out now, Arthur."

Merlin looked back at him and Arthur nodded.

Uther continued. "Balinor was one of my closest friends. He worked security for me and lived here with you and your mother. 

He knew how Ygraine's death was taking a toll on me. He tried to be there for me, but I was so blinded by rage. I wanted to get even with Gregor at any cost. I spiraled so quickly and completely. At home it was the only thing I could concentrate on. I didn't care who knew what I was doing. I just assumed Balinor would be on my side, but when he found out the lies I was telling and what I was doing to Gregor he wanted to stop it."

Arthur glanced at Merlin and he seemed so proud of his father.

Uther shook his head sadly. "I couldn't have that. I framed him for theft and had him arrested."

Merlin gasped.

Arthur knew all of this, but no matter how many times he heard what happened, it still unnerved him. He still had trouble reconciling the man he knew them and the man he knew now, as being capable of such things.

Uther heaved a big sigh. “I had all of the most powerful people in town wrapped around my finger and they did whatever I wanted. But Balinor had someone more important on his side. He had Gaius.”

Merlin’s eyes widened. “Gaius?”

“Yes. He helped Balinor get out of jail. Balinor still believed that justice could be served in Camelot and told the town council what I’d done...but as I said before everyone was willing to help me. Balinor decided to flee this town. The council members finally turned on me after I had a public breakdown ranting about sorcerers and magic. It was too late to do anything to help your family, I’m afraid.”

Merlin backed away and gaped at Uther. “How could you be so cruel?”

Uther started to explain.

Merlin cut him off. “I don’t care about your grief. People grieve without turning on people trying to help them. They can grieve without destroying people’s lives.” There were tears in his eyes, but his voice was as strong as Arthur had ever heard him.

“I don’t blame you for your anger…”

“Oh, thank you so much for your permission.” Merlin put his hands together and mock bowed.

Uther rubbed his hand over his face. “I just don’t want you to take out your anger towards me at my son.”

Merlin shot him a withering glare. “Your concern is touching, but it’s a far too late to try out for Father of the Year.” He looked over his shoulder at Arthur. “I know Arthur isn’t to blame for what you’ve done. I’m mad at him for what he’s done and I have every right to be.” Merlin walked over to Arthur. “You should have been honest with me.” He bit his lip and stared at Arthur for second, before he walked away.

Arthur whirled around. “Merlin, I’m…” He trailed off. He knew saying sorry wasn’t enough.

Merlin looked back once more, but then left.

~*~

“Fuck,” Merlin muttered. That was the third papercut he’d gotten in the last hour. He put his finger in his mouth and sucked on the cut.

After leaving Arthur’s he couldn’t even think of going back home. He didn’t want to face Will and his potential “I told you so’s.” He went to the vet hospital to do some work, but it was doing nothing to get his mind off of Arthur and their current situation.

He stood up and began to pace. As much as he didn’t want to think about Arthur, he kept finding himself trying to jog his memory. He wanted to remember the time he spent as a boy with Arthur, but nothing was coming to him. It was incredibly frustrating.

“Merlin, what are you doing here?” Gaius said as he stepped through the front door.

Merlin gasped and stopped in his tracks. He stared at Gaius. He remembered what Uther had said he had done for his father. He couldn’t help it as he walked toward him and threw his arms around him. 

It was partially a hug to thank him for what he had done years ago, but he also just needed a hug right now.

Gaius stiffened slightly. He pulled back and raised his eyebrow. He didn’t look annoyed, but rather concerned. “Merlin, are you alright?”

Merlin sniffed. It took him a second to realize, he’d started to cry and he wiped at his eyes. “I know what you did for my father, Gaius.” 

He had always known that Balinor held Gaius in high esteem and talked about owing him a debt, but he never knew how huge a debt it was.

“What exactly do you know?” Gaius asked as he took a step back.

Merlin sighed. He had a feeling Gaius was still trying to protect Arthur’s secret. “I know that I lived in Camelot. I know that Arthur and I were friends and I know you saved my father from prison - after Arthur’s father put him there.”

It took a lot to shock Gaius, but he seemed more than a little startled. “Did Balinor tell you that?”

“No. I wish he had, but no. It wasn’t Arthur either. It was Edwin Muirden,” Merlin explained.

Gaius nodded. 

“Gaius, I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am for what you did for my father.”

Gaius shook his head and looked away. “You don’t have to thank me. Your father is family and it was no trouble to help him. I would do the same thing for you.”

Merlin smiled. “I know.”

Gaius seemed to hesitate before speaking. “I understand why you would be mad at Arthur for keeping this from you, but believe me when I say he wrestled with his decision.”

Merlin’s expression immediately darkened and he turned away from Gaius. “I don’t care what Arthur wrestled with and I don’t care about him.”

Gaius quickly stepped in front of him. “You and I both know that is a lie. You cared deeply about that boy then as you do now.”

“Then why lie to me?” Merlin pleaded. He really was looking for some insight.

“Merlin, you of all people know why we sometimes lie to the people we care about. Arthur was scared of what you would think of him.”

Merlin sighed. He could definitely understand Arthur’s fear, but he was still unwilling to let Arthur off the hook. “I don’t want to talk about him.”

Gaius came toward him and took his hands in his. “I understand. Perhaps you should go home. You’ve had a lot to deal with today.”

Merlin rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and looked down at the floor. “I don’t want to go home. I can’t face WIll right now.”

“I would offer to let you stay at my home, but it’s not very big,” Gaius said.

“That’s alright. I think I know where I can go,” Merlin assured him.

Which is how he found himself at Gwen and Lance’s. He explained to them what happened, without going into too much graphic detail, and they immediately offered him a room for however long he needed.

Even though he had more than what he needed - they had stuffed him full of kebabs and then cookies and his guest room had more pillows and blankets then he’d ever seen in his life - Gwen knocked and when Merlin told her to come in, she came in with extra pillowcases and some hot chocolate. Sefa trailed in behind her.

Merlin chuckled. “I really need to stay over here more often. Have you and Lance ever thought of opening up your own bed and breakfast?”

Gwen grinned. “We only treat treasured friends this well.” She sat down next to him on the bed. “I’m so sorry that Arthur lied to you.”

Merlin peered at her as he picked Sefa up off the ground. “But…”

“But, Arthur’s my friend. I know that he has a good heart and I know that he likes you. I’m not saying to not be mad. You have every right to be, but don’t give up on Arthur. I think he really needs you. I have to believe you’re someone who believes in giving second chances. I’m just hoping you care enough about him to try.” Gwen gave him a warm smile and put the cup of hot chocolate in his hand before leaving with Sefa.

Merlin let his head fall back and exhaled. He knew Gwen was right. After all, Arthur had given him a second chance after his lies. Didn’t he owe Arthur the same? 

Merlin put the cup of hot chocolate down. Part of him just wanted to stew in his anger, but a bigger part was just so tired. He tried to throw the pillows on the ground as gently as possible. He finally got to crawl under the covers and threw the blanket over his head. 

 

~*~

Arthur knew that he should give Merlin some space, but he was too desperate to talk to him. He stopped by the veterinary hospital and found Gaius.

“Gaius, is Merlin here?”

Gaius shook his head. 

Arthur hung his head and groaned. 

Gaius walked over to Arthur. “I know that Merlin knows the truth.”

Arthur closed his eyes. “I messed up, Gaius. I really messed up.”

Gaius put his arm around Arthur and led him over to the waiting area.

Arthur let out a long sigh after he was seated. “You should have seen the look on his face when he found out everything, Gaius.”

Gaius’s frowned. “I know it must have been terrible. I’m sorry you’re both hurting.”

Arthur hit the seat of his chair. “That _fucking_ Edwin Muirden!” Arthur ran his hands through his hair. He glanced at Gaius out of the corner of his eye. “I’m sorry.”

Gaius waved his apology off. “It’s fine.”

“I can’t really blame him. It’s my fault. I should have told Merlin sooner.”

“Yes, you should have,” Gaius said in a stern voice. 

Arthur didn’t mind Gaius’s no nonsense answer. He was used to that from him and he usually appreciated it. “I let my fear get the better of me and now I might have lost the best friend I ever had.”

Gaius patted his knee. “I doubt that very much.”

Arthur stared at him. “Why?”

“Because you’re one of the best friends Merlin had ever had.” Gaius smiled.

Arthur smiled back. He didn’t doubt Gaius was right, but he wasn’t sure it would be enough to gain Merlin’s forgiveness.

~*~

Merlin sat outside Arthur’s house for half an hour. He kept changing his mind about whether to knock or not. A part of him really thought Arthur deserved to stew longer than just a couple of days, but the truth was he really missed him.

It was with that thought Merlin finally got up the courage to knock. Merlin was more than a little taken aback when it was Uther who opened the door. Merlin swallowed and looked down. “Have you given up the pretext of hiding that you’re back in town?”

Uther cleared his throat. “No. I knew it was you. I’ve seen you waiting out there for some time.”

Merlin nodded. He gestured to inside. “May I come in?”

“Yes.” Uther moved out of the way.

Merlin walked to the middle of the foyer. “Arthur’s here isn’t he? His car is parked outside.”

“Yes. He’s here. I think he’s walking Kilgharrah around the grounds outside. You’re more than welcome to wait. I know Arthur will want to see you.”

Merlin pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything.

Uther clasped his hands together and stared at Merlin. “Merlin, I wanted to apologize again-”

Merlin held his hand up. “I don’t want to hear it. The person who you owe an apology to is my father. And, quite frankly, you owe him a hell of a lot more than just a goddamn apology.”

Uther gave a slight nod, but didn’t say anything else. 

Thankfully, Merlin didn’t have to wait with Uther for too long. After another couple of minutes, he heard Kilgharrah barking and soon she trotted inside and headed straight for Merlin.

Merlin crouched down and stroked her head and put his head near her temple. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arthur step up behind her.

Merlin slowly pulled away from Kilgharrah and stood up.

Arthur seemed surprised and almost seemed to be holding his breath. “Hi.”

“Hello.”

They stood around awkwardly.

Arthur nodded toward his father. “Could you take Kilgharrah?”

“Of course,” Uther agreed quickly. He made a few kissing noises and walked away and Kilgharrah slowly followed him upstairs.

Arthur stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to come here,” Merlin answered as he looked around the room.

“We could go somewhere else to talk,” Arthur suggested. He took one step forward, but hesitated to move any closer.

Merlin shook his head. “It’s not necessary.”

“Merlin, I know this doesn’t mean much but I am sorry.” He wrung his hands together and seemed unbearably nervous. “I wanted to tell you how we knew each other. I really did, but I was scared. I was worried that if you knew what my father had done, that you would treat me differently.”

Merlin sighed. “I told you already that I didn’t think it was fair for people to blame you for what your father did.”

“I know, but I worried it would be different if you knew that your father was the one he hurt. I know you don’t remember those last few months you were here, but they were unbearable and you shouldn’t have to deal with those memories.”

Merlin took a few cautious steps forward. “But there were happy memories, too - weren’t there?” 

Arthur had a quick flash of a smile before it was gone. “Can you follow me?”

Merlin thought about it for a moment before he nodded. Arthur took him to the library in the back. He went over to the desk and picked up something and brought it over to Merlin. “I think Kilgharrah wanted to show you this the other day.”

It was a picture. Merlin took it from his hands. He gasped when he saw the two of them together as young boys. He knew what Edwin and Arthur had told him, but it was quite another to see actual physical proof of it. He ran his finger of the picture. He gazed up at Arthur. “You look so happy. I do, too.”

“I had just come home from my first day at a school I hated,” Arthur explained.

Merlin closed his eyes. Suddenly, a fuzzy image popped came to him. He could see Arthur in a cute navy suit. He looked adorable, but his eyes were so sad and he was frowning. Another image, this time of a happy Arthur taking the suit jacket off. His mouth fell open as he opened his eyes and stared at Arthur.

“I think I remembered something.”

 

Arthur blinked slowly. “Really?”

“It was just a flash, but I think I remembered some of when this happened.” He waved the picture at Arthur. “You were so sad and then you got home and it was like this flood gate opened and you were so happy.” Merlin laughed. 

Arthur just kept staring at him in shock.

“You were so happy to see me,” Merlin whispered.

Arthur bit his lip. “You were my best friend.”

Merlin looked down at the floor and took a deep breath before he looked up at Arthur. “I want to get to know you…” He chuckled as he looked down at the picture. “Again.”

A slow smile spread on Arthur’s face.

Merlin’s brow furrowed and he frowned. “But you need to promise me… _we_ need to promise each other no more lies. I want to trust you, Arthur.”

“I want to trust you, too.” He sounded so sincere. “I promise you - no more lies.”

~*~

Will was surprised when Morgause told him he could go in to see Edwin. He’d only been waiting for two minutes. He was beyond nervous as he got up. He hadn’t really spoken to Edwin in a week and wasn’t sure if he still had a job.

Even worse was that he hadn’t talked to Merlin in all that time. Merlin hadn’t even come home for the first few days after the bombshell Edwin had dropped. He did text Will that he was staying at another friend’s. He really hoped that friend wasn’t Arthur. He couldn’t imagine how Merlin could forgive Arthur after his lies.

Will had to admit that he was a bit mad at Edwin for just dropping that information on Merlin - and the way he did it - he seemed to revel in being cruel. But Will did figure that Edwin did Merlin a favor and he proved why the Pendragons weren’t trustworthy.

He swallowed before he opened the door and walked in. He tried to be mature and not let on his fear about his future job prospects. “You asked to see me.”

Edwin didn’t look up at him. He kept his eyes planted on his desk. “What do you think about what happened last week?”

Will didn’t pretend that he didn’t know to what he was referring. “I…”

Edwin finally glanced up at him. “You can be honest.”

“I honestly wish that you had told me about what Arthur was keeping from Merlin and about what Uther had done to Merlin’s father. It wasn’t fair to Merlin.” Will half-shouted. He balled his hands at his sides. Apparently he was angrier than even he had realized.

Edwin didn’t seem upset. “You’re right. I should have told you both sooner.”

Will shook his head. “It could have been to your advantage as well. Merlin might have helped you if he knew what Uther had done to his dad.”

Edwin leaned forward on his desk. “Frankly, I know this is selfish, but that wouldn’t have suited my purposes. I needed Merlin to want to be near Arthur, not to be angry with him.” He sighed and leaned back. “Unfortunately, I did not count on Merlin caring too much for him. I’m very disappointed in Merlin.”

Will looked down at the ground. “Are you disappointed in me, too?”

Edwin stared at him without saying anything. Finally, he shook his head slowly. “No. While I gave Merlin too much credit, I don’t think I gave you enough. I told Merlin we might be kindred spirits, but I think you and I are.”

Will was surprised to hear him say that.

Edwin gestured for Will to sit. “I’ve done my research on you as I would for any employee. I know that your father was a brilliant journalist. He died because he dedicated his life getting to the truth and not letting powerful men run roughshod over those more vulnerable.”

Will got a little choked up. He felt the same way about his father and it was amazing hearing someone else regard him the same way.

“Your father would do whatever it took to reveal the truth about someone like Uther Pendragon. He would want to see justice done.”

Will could only nod.

“I’m going to give you another chance to get this story right, Will.”

Will scooted forward in his seat. “I promise I won’t let you down, Mr. Muirden.”

Edwin steepled his hands under his chin. “Please, call me Edwin.”

Will smiled.

“I know you won’t let me down and I’m going to help you see to that. I have an idea of what we need to do next.”

~*~

Arthur got off the phone with Merlin and couldn’t help smiling. For the millionth time, he felt such gratitude that the secret was out and Merlin had given him another chance. They hadn’t really seen each other since the last time Merlin was at the house, but they texted and talked on the phone. Arthur was sure that despite the breakthrough Merlin had at his house, he wanted to be around Uther as little as possible for now, and he absolutely couldn’t blame him.

He was sitting by the pond in their back garden and resting his feet in there. It was a beautiful sunny day and he was doing his best to just enjoy the day.

His father came by a few minutes later and sat down and looked down at the ground. It looked like he wanted to sit, but he hesitated. Arthur chuckled. His father was definitely not a fan of sitting in the grass.

Uther finally sat down gingerly. “You seem to be enjoying yourself.”

Arthur lifted up his sunglasses. “I’m trying to.”

Uther cleared his throat. “I haven’t seen Merlin in a while.”

Arthur sat up. “He’s been a little busy.”

Uther nodded. “But he has forgiven you?”

“Yes!” Arthur smiled. “He really has. I think he just wants to take things slowly right now.”

Uther rubbed at a non-existent stain on his tan pants. “But you two are still...dating? Are you not?”

Arthur sighed. He really hadn’t wanted to push Merlin on that. He’d said before he didn’t want to label things yet, so he was just trying to take things one day at a time - though if it were up to him, Merlin would know that he wanted to be with him and no one else. “I’m not sure. I think we’re friends for now.”

Uther pursed his lips. “Just be careful. You don’t want to end up in the friend zone.”

Arthur did a double take and gaped at his father. “In the what?”

Uther shrugged. “The friend zone. It’s when-”

“I know what it means,” Arthur interrupted. “How do you know what it means?”

“I had a lot of time on my hands when I was…” He cleared his throat. “When I was away and I started watching this really amusing program.”

“You watched _Friends_?”

Uther nodded. “Yes. I really enjoyed it.

Arthur just stared at him.

“My point is that if you want to be more than friends with Merlin, you need to woo him.” 

Arthur got up. He started to speak, but ended up laughing briefly. “I really appreciate the advice, father. I just need to process that my father actually used the term “the friend zone” with me. But I’ll think about the whole wooing thing.” He patted his father on the shoulder and walked away. 

He kept shaking his head and laughing as he walked up to his room. Though he had to admit there was probably something to his father’s wooing idea.

~*~

When Merlin got home after work he stopped in the kitchen to get some water, but was stopped dead when he saw a big bouquet of white roses on the kitchen table. He slowly approached them. He didn’t think Will was dating anyone - it saddened him to realize even if he was he wouldn’t know - but even if he was, he doubted anyone would send Will flowers.

He started to pick up the card, when Will walked in. He sneered at the flowers. “It’s from your boyfriend.”

Even though it wasn’t entirely accurate, he got a little thrill thinking of Arthur as his boyfriend. He picked up the card. “Arthur’s not my boyfriend.” He said to Will without looking at him. He smiled a mile wide when he read the card. It was just a little note saying ‘I’m thinking of you’ but it was so sweet, it made Merlin ache to see Arthur.

“You could have fooled me. Most friends don’t send each other roses.” Will slammed his hand against the fridge.

Merlin whirled around. “What is your problem?”

“You!” He pointed at Merlin. “This whole situation. How could you forgive Arthur for lying to you?”

“Will, it’s not like I’m some innocent here. I lied to him, too.”

“His lie was worse.”

“That’s a very mature response.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He stormed out of the room.

Merlin hung his head. He was really starting to worry things would never get better between him and Will. He slumped down into a seat at the kitchen table. He looked down at the flowers. He picked them up and buried his nose in them. It brought another smile to his face.

Even though it was late, he decided to throw caution to the wind and give in to the desire to see Arthur. He hoped Arthur would be glad to see him.

He knocked on the door and anxiously waited for Arthur. He really hoped Uther wouldn’t answer the door. He was in such a good mood and didn’t want anything to spoil that. Thankfully, Arthur answered the door.

His bright smile eased any fears Merlin had that he wouldn’t want to see him. He walked in past Arthur. “I just wanted to come by a personally say thank you.”

Arthur quirked his eyebrow up and looked confused. “Thank you?”

Merlin grinned. “For the flowers.”

Arthur continued to look like he had no clue and Merlin was starting to get worried that he had been pranked.

Merlin fished the card that was attached to the flowers out of his pocket. “I got white roses today.”

“White roses?” Arthur repeated.

Merlin nodded and put the card in his hands. “This came with them, ‘I’m thinking of you - Arthur’” He looked up at Arthur hopefully.

Arthur closed his eyes and sighed. “I didn’t send them. It was my father.”

Merlin groaned and stepped back. “Your father? That’s just...gross! Why would he do that?”

“Ugh, because he doesn’t want me to end up in the “friend zone,”” Arthur said in an explanation that made little sense.

“Friend zone?” Merlin narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah.” Arthur waved his hands in front of his face. “He just watches too much television.”

Merlin rubbed his temple. He was still confused, but decided to let it go. He didn’t want to drag this out. He was so embarrassed and very disappointed.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I don’t want to push you because I know you want to be friends and not rush anything.” Arthur looked up at him hesitantly.

Merlin could see some hope in his eyes and he knew he had a window to just tell Arthur that wasn’t what he really wanted, but he thought better of it. It was probably for the best for them to take it slow and start out as friends. So he nodded. “Right. That’s for the best.” 

Arthur gave him back the card.

Merlin laughed. “I guess I should be grateful that my father stays out of my love life.”

Arthur chuckled softly. He scratched his head and gave Merlin a sideways glance. “Does your father know you’re gay?”

Merlin nodded. “Yes. He was really very loving and, surprisingly sweet, when I told him. He just wanted to know that I was going to be happy.”

Arthur smiled. “My father was the same way. It really surprised me.”

Merlin crossed his arms over his chest. “I guess they have some things in common. I suppose that’s why they were such good friends.”

“Right.” Arthur cleared his throat and looked around the room. He couldn’t meet Merlin’s eyes.

They’d basically danced around mentioning anything about what Uther had done and didn’t talk about their fathers, but it had to come up eventually.

Arthur opened and closed his mouth a few times and finally got the words out. “You didn’t tell your father Uther is here?” 

Merlin shook his head. “Not yet. He’s worked so hard to keep this from me. I have no idea how he’ll react when he finds out I know. I wish he had told me. I feel bad for all the times I was mad that he didn’t want me to come here.”

Arthur reached over and took hold of his hand. “Like you’ve told me before, we’re not responsible for what our fathers have done. You can’t be blamed for how you reacted.”

Merlin smiled, though it felt more like a grimace. “I know. I understand him so much better now and I want to see him. I just really miss him.”

Arthur seemed to have an inner debate before he came forward and wrapped his arms around Merlin.

It felt so good, Merlin almost purred like a kitten. He closed his eyes. 

~*~

Arthur felt awkward and weird standing on Gwen and Lance’s doorstep. He loved Gwen and Lance seemed like a really fantastic person, but he really hadn’t spent any alone time with him.

He had decided to take his father’s advice about wooing Merlin. He really wanted to respect Merlin’s boundaries, but in the spirit of them not lying to each other anymore, he needed to let Merlin know how he truly felt. After that, how things went was up to Merlin. So he called Merlin up and invited him over to his house. Happily, Merlin agreed with no prodding needed.

The only problem was that Arthur had scant dating experience. He wasn’t about to ask his father for advice nor Gaius. He could ask Gwen, but he felt like he just needed a man’s opinion, so here he was.

Lance opened the door after another knock. He seemed surprised to see Arthur there, but quickly recovered and smiled. “Hello, Arthur. Gwen’s not here. Do you need to wait for her?”

Arthur shook his head. “I’m actually here to see you.”

Lance’s eyes widened a bit, but he stepped aside and let Arthur in. He led him into their cozy looking den. Everything was decorated in pretty pale blues and yellow. They had a cute blue plaid loveseat that he and Arthur sat on

Arthur cleared his throat. “I...I need some wooing advice.” Arthur grimaced after he said it. He sounded so stupid.

Lance just grinned. “Wooing?”

Arthur put his hand over his eyes and shook his head a bit. “I know it sounds weird, but Gwen is always going on about all of your wonderful romantic gestures and I would like to do something similar for Merlin, to let him know how I feel.”

Lance laughed, but it wasn’t mean-spirited. “You want to let him know you want to be with him?”

Arthur shook his head a bit and then nodded. He just wanted to sink into the couch and hide his face.

Lance gripped his shoulder and nodded happily. “I would love to help. I think you and Merlin could be great together.”

‘Arthur looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Really?”

“Yes.”

Arthur took a deep breath and faced Lance and smiled. “I just want to cook something really nice for him.”

“Alright.”

Lance led Arthur into his kitchen and decided to show Arthur something simple, and that he knew was one of Merlin’s favorites. He walked him through how to make spaghetti with Bolognese sauce. It wasn’t as hard as Arthur imagined. He did all the cooking and it came out quite good.

Like the godsends they were, Lance and Gwen (she got home at the end of Lance’s tutorial and was quite impressed with Arthur’s efforts) agreed to take Uther in for the night. He wasn’t planning on Merlin staying overnight, but he just wanted absolute privacy.

Lance also showed Arthur how to present the meal in the best and most romantic way. So Arthur got home with the dinner made. He just had to set the table and set the right mood. After that was done, he waited anxiously for Merlin to get there. He had wanted to pick Merlin up, but Merlin had insisted on riding his bike.

Arthur patiently waited like a normal person. He certainly didn’t stand by the door looking out the window for fifteen minutes. As soon as Merlin walked up to the door, Arthur had it opened. “Hello.”

“Hello, Mr. Formal.” Merlin chuckled as he looked Arthur up and down. 

He was wearing a three piece suit. While Merlin wasn’t dressed up quite as much, he didn’t have on jeans and Arthur counted that as good enough.

Arthur quickly closed the door and took Merlin’s hand. “Let’s get to the dining room. I don’t want the food to get cold.”

He may have broken land speed records in getting there, but as they approached he stopped and stood in front of the brown double doors. “I hope you like it.”

Merlin furrowed his brow, but grinned up at him.

Arthur slid open the two doors. He let Merlin walk in first. 

Merlin’s mouth dropped as he looked all around him. 

There were a multitude of candles on the long glass table and on the surrounding tables. Roses petals were strewn all over the table and the over the plush brown carpet. Classical music was coming through speakers set up on the back table.

Arthur watched Merlin closely. He seemed surprised, but impressed.

Merlin turned to him with a wide smile. “Arthur? You didn’t have to do all of this.”

Arthur took a deep breath and stood before Merlin. “Yes, I did. Because I want to woo you.”

Merlin’s lips trembled and he let out a burst of laughter. He covered his mouth instantly. He shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you. Just the word ‘woo’ sounds so old-fashioned.” He looked around the room again. “But it’s sweet.”

 

Arthur took both of his hands in his. “I just want you to know that I don’t just want to be friends. I want to be with you.”

Merlin cocked his head to the side. “Really.”

“Yes!” Arthur said. He stared into Merlin’s eyes and rubbed his thumbs over Merlin’s wrists.

Merlin licked his lips and stepped closer to him. “I want to be with you, too. I said I just I wanted to be friends because I wanted to make sure that you wanted me. You weren’t just interested because of some nostalgia about our past as children.”

Arthur squeezed Merlin’s hands. “Merlin, the affection I had for you back then is a part of why I was drawn to you, but it’s so much more than that now. One of the only good things about keeping our past from you was that I knew you were interested in me because of who I am now and I felt the same way about you. I got to know you Merlin and I care about the man you are now just as much as I cared about you then.”

Merlin closed his eyes and smiled. “That was the best answer ever.”

Arthur gazed at him with a beautiful smile. He buried his hand in Merlin’s hair and pulled him toward him. He kissed him softly. When he gripped Merlin’s waist, Merlin sank into it even further and sighed. He smiled against Arthur’s lips. 

Merlin pulled back and grinned. “Can we eat now?”

Arthur threw back his head and laughed. “Absolutely.”

~*~

Will could see that Merlin was floating on cloud nine. He’d been walking around with a goofy grin on his face for days. He knew it was because of Arthur. Will truly wanted to be happy for Merlin. If it were any other guy but Arthur, he would have been.

As he watched Merlin hum happily as he made some pancakes Will felt a buzzing in his pocket. When he pulled out his phone he saw that Edwin was calling. He thought about saying something to excuse himself, but Merlin wasn’t paying attention to him anyway.

“Edwin, hello,” Edwin said as he headed into the den.

Edwin skipped any pleasantries. “Have you made the call yet?”

Will scrubbed a hand down his face. “Maybe there’s something else we could do? I don’t want to involve them.”

“Will, they’re already involved. Who better to get to Uther and to also protect Merlin? You want to protect him from his bad choices, don’t you?”

Will sighed. “Yes.” He could almost hear Edwin smirking over the phone.

“Then do it now.”

Will sighed as he heard the line disconnect. He decided to take a crack at reasoning with Merlin again. He trudged back into the kitchen. He leaned against the stove. “Are you seeing Arthur again?”

Merlin eyed him warily. “Yes. Tonight.”

“How about we see a movie instead?” 

Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose and turned off the stove. “Will, please, leave it.”

Merlin started to walk away, but Will grabbed his arm. “Merlin, no matter what has happened recently I’m your friend. I’m just trying to look out for you. I think getting mixed up with the Pendragons is a bad idea.”

Merlin pulled his arm away. “I’m not mixed up with the Pendragons. I’m with Arthur and you don’t know him like I do.” 

Will watched Merlin leave and took out his phone. He exhaled as he went through his contacts and placed a call. It was picked up on the third ring. Even though he couldn’t see him, Will smiled. “Hello, Mr. Emrys. This is Will. I need to talk to you about Merlin.”

~*~

Even though Merlin said he didn’t need to woo him, Arthur still liked the idea of romancing Merlin as best as he could. He came up with the idea of having a little scavenger hunt at the house. He had spent all day around the house planting little clues for Merlin to find. The prize at the end was something he thought Merlin would really enjoy.

When Merlin got there he was excited to tell him all about it, but immediately forgot all about it when he could see that Merlin was near tears.

“Merlin, what’s wrong?”

Merlin just threw himself into Arthur’s arms and Arthur held him tight. After a few minutes, Merlin pulled away and wiped at his eyes. “I’m sorry.” Merlin pointed at Arthur’s grey t-shirt where there were tear stains.

“I don’t care about that.” Arthur stroked the side of Merlin’s face. “What happened?”

“A dog came into the hospital. It was this really cute Dalmatian named Pongo.” Merlin’s voice quivered. “Someone just threw him on the side of the road. Gaius tried to save him, but there was nothing he could do. He died.” Tears fell down his cheeks.

Arthur didn’t know how to comfort him, so he just wiped his tears and held him close again. 

Merlin looked up at him. “I don’t understand how people could do something like that.”

Arthur slid his hand through Merlin’s hair. “I don’t know. Some people are just sick.”

Merlin sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He walked away went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “I feel horrible about what happened to the dog, but it’s more than that. I’ve been hesitating on really deciding if I wanted a future as a veterinarian, but I recently started thinking that maybe I should put my fears aside and just go for it. I know it’s something I could be really good at, but something like this happened and it reminds me why I don’t know if I could make a career out of it.”

Arthur sat down next to him. “Because you care too much?”

Merlin looked up at him and nodded. 

“Merlin, caring too much isn’t a bad thing.” Arthur held his hand.

“But, I just don’t know how I can handle being a vet when I fall apart every time an animal dies. That can’t be something vets do. Gaius doesn’t do that. Even Lance doesn’t. If I can’t do something that I love what the hell am I going to do with my future.” Merlin put his head on Arthur’s shoulder.

Arthur put his head against Merlin’s. “The great thing about being in school is you still have time to figure things out. Merlin, you just have to follow your heart and I really believe you’ll have an amazing future.” Arthur kissed his temple.

Merlin sighed. “You’re really making an excellent boyfriend.”

Arthur instantly smiled, but Merlin pulled back and looked everywhere but at Arthur.

“Uh, I don’t mean boyfriend. I don’t want to put a label on it or rush you in anyway-”

Arthur kissed him.

Merlin closed his eyes and sighed when Arthur pulled back.

“I’m fine with boyfriend.” Arthur smiled.

Merlin sat back in his chair and tried to wipe the smile from his face, which seemed impossible. “What did you have planned for tonight?”

Arthur shrugged. “You know we don’t have to do that tonight if you don’t want to.”

Merlin stood up and took Arthur’s hands and pulled him up to. “I came here to be with you, not wallow in misery. If you had something planned, then I want to do it.”

Arthur grinned. “Alright.” He led Merlin to the front room that barely had any furniture. “Welcome to your scavenger hunt.”

Merlin grinned. “A scavenger hunt, huh?”

“Yeah, I thought it would be fun.”

Merlin nodded. “It could be. What do I have to do?”

Arthur pulled out a small piece of paper. “You have to figure out this clue, which will lead you to the next one, and so on and so on. There are about five clues all over the house. When you’re done I have a prize for you in my bedroom.”

“A prize in your bedroom. Arthur, you naughty boy.” Merlin waggled his eyebrows. 

Arthur threw his head back and laughed. He pecked Merlin on the lips. “I’ll have to warn you though; I’m not very good with puzzles or riddles so I got some help.”

“Alright.” Merlin looked down at the clue and then back at Arthur with his brow furrowed. “Pivot?”

Arthur giggled and then he realized Merlin was serious. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You mean to tell me you’ve never seen _Friends_?”

Merlin shrugged. “Sorry. I’m guessing all of these are _Friends_ related?”

Arthur pursed his lips. “I’m guessing there’s a good chance of that.”

“So I’m screwed then.”

Arthur chuckled. “There’s always Google.” He patted Merlin’s arm. “I’ll be up in my room waiting.”

He walked up the stairs and grinned as he watched Merlin take out his phone. When he got to his room he walked over to his nightstand and picked up his family’s photo album. He sat down on his bed. He’d barely spent ten minutes with it, when Merlin came in with a beaming smile.

Arthur sat up on his bed. “You couldn’t possibly be done.”

Merlin bounced a little on the spot as he grinned. “The first clue was in the coach. The second was by a pot of coffee in the kitchen. The third was by a fountain in your backyard. The fourth was, cleverly enough. And the fifth, I assume, is in here by your DVD collection of _Friends_?”

Arthur rolled his eyes. “No. I wrote the last clue.” He stood up. “I guess Google was more help than I thought.”

“No, I didn’t use Google.”

“You did it on your own?” Arthur was astonished. If he didn’t watch _Friends_ he’s not sure how he managed it. 

Merlin scrunched up his face. “Not quite.”

That’s when Kilgharrah padded into the room. She headed straight for the photo album and nosed through it and found the clue and delivered it to Merlin.

Merlin crouched down and retrieved. “She was a lot faster than Google.”

“That’s cheating!” Arthur declared. 

“How is using her any more cheating than using Google?”

“I don’t know, but I think it’s an unfair advantage,” Arthur argued.

“It’s a fine argument. I’m sure it’ll hold up in court.” Merlin held out his hand. “What did I win?”

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and pretended that he wasn’t going to give Merlin anything.

Merlin actually stamped his foot down. “Arthur!”

“Alright, alright.” He went over to his bedside table and opened a drawer. He walked back with something in his closed fist. "This was something you loved when you were a boy. I don't know why I kept it. I guess it reminded me of you."

He opened his hand. It was a tiny golden toy dragon.

Merlin's wide smile as he reached for it warmed Arthur's heart. 

"I think I remember this. I used to ask my mum about it because I was sure I had one. They finally got me one, but it just never felt right." He gazed up at Arthur. "Thank you so much."

"It's back where it belongs.” Arthur put his hand over it and squeezed Merlin’s hand.

They both turned around when Kilgharrah barked at them. She stared up at them for a second before she slowly trotted out of the room. 

“She is a very odd dog,” Arthur said with affection. “Would you like to see a picture of her as a puppy?”

Merlin nodded.

Arthur went to sit on his bed and Merlin sat next to him. Arthur picked up the photo album. He grinned at Merlin. “Once you see this picture, I think you’ll see why you picked her out for me.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow before looking down at the album. When Arthur landed on the page with the picture, Merlin giggled. Kilgharrah almost looked exactly the same except smaller. Merlin’s eyes were drawn to her ears. They looked large on her as an adult and they were the same size when she was a puppy.

“See you found your doggy twin,” Arthur teased.

Merlin covered his ears. “I think her ears are cute.”

Arthur could see that even though Merlin was smiling, he felt a little self-conscious. “I think your ears are cute.”

“You didn’t seem to think so that day in the park.”

Arthur closed the album and set it aside. “I was pissed off that day. I’ve always thought your ears made you uniquely you.” He leant over and gently kissed the tip of Merlin’s left ear.

Merlin shivered.

Arthur continued to leave soft, little kisses down his ear. When he took the lobe into his mouth, Merlin grabbed his thigh.

“Arthur,” Merlin breathed out against his cheek.

Arthur pulled back and they stared into each other’s eyes. They were both breathing heavily. Arthur lunged forward and kissed Merlin.

Merlin buried his hand in Arthur’s hair. 

Arthur licked at the seam of Merlin’s mouth and he opened easily for Arthur and he swept his tongue into his mouth.

Merlin pulled Arthur on top of him. 

Their tongues met and Arthur could feel his toes curl. He didn’t think he’d ever been so aroused in his entire life.

He pulled back slightly and looked down at Merlin’s open, wet lips. He ran his hands over them. “I never thought I’d have this again.”

He dived in and kissed the breath out of Merlin.

Merlin laughed into his mouth and pulled back to kiss the corner of Arthur’s mouth. “I don’t think we ever did this as children. At least I hope not.”

Arthur chuckled. Their kissing resumed and intensified.

When Merlin moaned again as Arthur sucked on the tip of his tongue, Arthur ground his hips against him. 

Arthur pulled back to kiss Merlin’s throat. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the door was still open. Reluctantly, Arthur put his head on Merlin’s shoulder.

Merlin panted and stroked Arthur’s hair. “What is it?”

“The door’s open,” Arthur answered.

Merlin ran his hands down Arthur’s back and kissed his neck. “So close it.”

With a sigh, Arthur sat back. “I could, but I still know that my father is not that far down the hall. I just don’t feel comfortable having sex while he’s around. I’m sorry.”

Merlin sat up and ran his hands through his hair. He put his fingers under Arthur’s chin and made him look up before he kissed him. “It’s okay. You should come over to my house tomorrow for our next date.”

“Because you don’t mind having sex with Will around?”

Merlin laughed. “It’s never really come up before. I don’t think I would mind, but that’s not what I meant. I can make sure that Will isn’t around tomorrow night.”

“Are you sure? You two aren’t on the best of terms. Do you think he would agree to clear out so you could have sex with me?” Arthur took a deep breath and tried to get his hormones under control. He could still feel his erection.

“I don’t care if he listens to me or not, but I’m sure if I break it to him that he might have to overhear things he won’t want to hear, that he’ll go elsewhere.” Merlin climbed into Arthur’s lap. “What do I have to say to convince you to come over tomorrow?” Merlin started sucking on Arthur’s bottom lip.

Arthur nodded jerkily. “Of course I’ll come.” Arthur closed his eyes and laughed at his unintended dirty comment. “Of course I’ll come _over_.

Merlin ground down on Arthur’s crotch. “I think you were right the first time.”

Arthur groaned and leaned over until Merlin was lying down on the bed. They made out for a few more minutes before they reluctantly separated.

Arthur felt like these might be the longest 24 hours of his life.

~*~

Merlin was really surprised when Will readily agreed to spend the night elsewhere. He didn’t put up a fuss or anything. He was also acting really weird and shifty. They hadn’t been as thick as thieves lately, but it had been a long time since Will could barely look him in the eye. But Merlin decided not to examine the gift too closely.

When Arthur arrived that night, Merlin gave Arthur a short tour of their humble abode. There was a part of Merlin that just wanted to lock the two of them in his bedroom right away and have his way with Arthur, but he didn’t want to seem too eager.

Instead, Merlin sat Arthur down in their den and they played some role-playing games. As boring as Merlin found _Skyrim_ , he really enjoyed the _Dragon Age_ series. He introduced Arthur to _Dragon Age: Origins._

Arthur didn’t seem into it at first, but seemed to enjoy it as he watched Merlin play.

“You know these aren’t that different from the games you used to play as a kid.” Arthur smiled. “Well, some of them. You used to be partial to Go Fish.”

“I did?” Merlin shrugged. “I’m not really a fan of card games.”

“Well back then you were very good at them. I used to get so frustrated because you would always beat me. I was older and smarter-”

“Debatable,” Merlin added.

Arthur threw popcorn at him. “I figured I should be able to win.” Arthur looked up at the ceiling and some memory seemed to come to him as he grinned. “I remember I didn’t talk to you for a whole day when you let me beat you won day.”

Merlin gave a mock pout. “Aww, was your pride hurt?”

“Yes.” Arthur didn’t hesitate to answer.

Merlin sighed and paused the game. “I wish I had as many memories of us as you do.”

Arthur frowned. “I do, too.”

“Your father said my family lived with yours. When did my parents move in?”

“It was before you were born.”

Merlin quickly turned around on the couch to face Arthur. “Really?”

Arthur nodded. “Yes. Our mothers were very close, as were our father,” Arthur swallowed thickly at the mention of their fathers, but continued on. “Your father worked security for mine, but they fell on hard times and couldn’t afford their home anymore. My mother invited your parents to move in while Hunith was pregnant with you.”

Merlin shook his head slowly as he thought about this. “You basically knew me before I was even born.”

Arthur moved closer to him on the couch. “I was there when you were born.”

Merlin’s head whipped around. “What?”

“I was only three so I don’t really remember it, but my mother told me about it. Your mother let me hold you.”

“Wow,” Merlin whispered.

Arthur winced. “It wasn’t exactly love at first sight though. I was really jealous of you because my mother was so in love with you and paid so much attention to you.”

“You hated me?” Merlin knew it was irrational because they were only children, but the idea still upset him.

Arthur placed his hand on Merlin’s arm. “I was too young to really hate anything. I just pouted and sulked like any young boy that age. My mother said she set aside time for us to spend the whole day together alone. She promised me that I would always be her little boy and she could never love anyone more than me. She also said it was important for me to look out for you. It took a while, but I finally did grow to care for you and took my responsibility very seriously.”

Merlin smiled. “How close were we?”

Arthur leaned in close. “You were the only one allowed to call me Artie.”

Merlin giggled.

“You were also the first person I ever slept with.” Arthur grinned.

Merlin leaned back and eyed Arthur suspiciously. “What does that mean?”

Arthur laughed. “When I was a kid, I wasn’t above throwing my weight around with my sitters.”

“The hell you say.” Merlin feigned shock.

Arthur hit his arm. “This one time I had this sitter. Her name was Elena. I had her convinced I could have her fired at any moment if she didn’t do as I asked. So one night she let me and you watch _The Exorcist_. I think I you were three or four. You were so frightened you came into my room and asked to sleep in my bed.” Arthur put his arm around Merlin. “I never told you then, but I was just as scared.”

Merlin snuggled up to Arthur. “Have you thought about me all of these years?”

Arthur sighed. “I actually didn’t. For a long time, I forced myself not to think about that time in my life, even though I had so many wonderful memories. How it ended was just too painful.” He looked down at Merlin and waited for Merlin to look up at him. “But the first time I saw you in Professor Monmouth’s class it all came flooding back to me. I realized how much I had missed you.”

Merlin rubbed Arthur’s chest. He could tell how difficult this was for Arthur and how emotional he was getting.

“I had never really pictured you as an adult,” Arthur continued. “You’re sort of different then you were then, but in a lot of ways the same. You’re still sweet and kind, but you’re also funny, smart, and brave.”

Merlin burrowed his face in Arthur’s chest and chuckled. “I’m kind of offended on behalf of my younger self. I’m sure I was funny and smart.”

Arthur nodded. “You were, just not as much as now.” Arthur slowly runs his hand through Merlin’s hair. “I’m so lucky to have found you again.”

Merlin leaned up and they kissed tenderly. When he pulled back, Arthur had his eyes closed. “Would you like to come up to my room...Artie?” He grinned.

Arthur just nodded.

Arthur couldn’t keep his hands off him as they walked up the stairs. They were kissing by the time they made it through Merlin’s door. He kicked it shut.

They backed up toward the bed. At that point, they were barely kissing now, just sharing breath as their hands roamed over their clothed bodies. Arthur made quick work of Merlin’s belt and ripped it off. He surprised Merlin when he pushed him down on the bed.

Arthur crawled on the full-size bed, his legs bracketing Merlin in. “Turn around,” he whispered.

Merlin complied fast.

Arthur gradually pushed Merlin’s black t-shirt up as he laid open-mouth kisses, mixed with nips and licks, up Merlin’s back.

After how long they waited, Merlin thought they would be tearing each other’s clothes off and hurriedly making love, but he was glad Arthur was taking his time.

When Arthur got up to Merlin’s neck and Merlin could feel Arthur’s crotch pressed against his ass, he moaned and ripped his shirt off. He was so hard and couldn’t help hitching his clothed erection against the bed.

Arthur leaned up and took his shirt off, too. While he did that, Merlin shimmied out of his pants. Finally, they were skin to skin and Arthur licked Merlin’s neck and roughly fisted his hair. He was rubbing his hard cock in between Merlin’s butt cheeks, as he thrust his tongue in Merlin’s ear. Merlin didn’t know how much more he could take.

As if he was reading his mind, Arthur leaned over and whispered in Merlin’s ear. “Condom? Lube?”

Merlin was almost delirious with lust, but managed to point to bedside table. Arthur got up to get them. 

Merlin rubbed his eyes and sat up. If he didn’t get a hold of himself, this would be over before it began. Merlin had never experienced anything like this before. Not only would this only be the second time he’d had sex, with everything he felt for Arthur he found it hard to control himself.

He decided to exert a little more control of the situation and stood up as Arthur turned to him with the condom and lube in hand. Arthur smiled and pressed a kiss to his mouth, which quickly turned filthy as Arthur’s tongue swept the roof of his mouth. 

While they were kissing, Merlin switched their positions. When the kiss broke, Merlin gently sat Arthur down.

Arthur grasped Merlin’s cock. “You’re so beautiful.” He kissed the tip and Merlin keened.

He pushed Arthur back until his back hit the headboard. He quickly climbed into his lap. He took the lube and condom from Arthur. He set the condom aside before he opened the lube. He coated two fingers and then reached around and breached his entrance. He gasped and clutched Arthur’s shoulder.

Arthur looked up at him as if he was in awe of him. He kissed Merlin’s neck and sucked red marks all over.

When Merlin was done he took his fingers out and looked into Arthur’s eyes. Arthur gave a slight nod and Merlin licked his lips. He positioned himself over Arthur’s cock and sunk down. Merlin threw back his head as Arthur bottomed out deep inside.

Arthur fisted his hands through Merlin’s sweaty hair and gave him a bruising kiss. Merlin moaned into his mouth when Arthur thrust down.

Merlin pressed down on Arthur’s thighs and leaned over to Arthur’s ear. “Let me do this.”

Arthur’s only response was a shaky sigh.

Merlin set a slow and torturous pace as he rode Arthur. He would lift almost entirely off Arthur’s cock and work his way down. He squeezed Arthur’s cock with his hole and Arthur’s eyes rolled back in his head.

Arthur put his arms around Merlin and squeezed Merlin to his chest as Merlin started to lose control and began to slam down onto Arthur. 

They kissed - their tongues sweeping against each other - until Merlin was breathless and so, so close.

“Oh, fucking God Arthur, I’m gonna come! I’m gonna come!” Merlin screamed.

Arthur gripped Merlin’s dick and stroked him roughly. “Come for me, Merlin!!”

“Arthur! Arthur! Arthur!” Merlin cried as Arthur stroked him twice more before he came all over Arthur’s broad chest.

Arthur buried his face in Merlin’s neck and thrust up two more times before he let out a guttural groan and came!

It was so intense, Merlin didn’t know if he would ever stop shaking. 

Arthur continued to hold him and plant kisses all over his face.

After a minute, Merlin worried that he was crushing Arthur and slowly lifted off of him. He threw away the condom in the wastebasket in his bathroom and came back with a washcloth to clean Arthur’s chest.

When he came back over, Arthur pulled him down and wrapped his arms around him and held him to his chest. He stroked Merlin’s hair. It wasn’t long before he heard Arthur softly snoring. 

Merlin felt so content and boneless and happy - he couldn’t have imagined a more perfect night. He was asleep in no time as well. 

~*~

Arthur peppered kisses over Merlin’s back and waited for him to get up. 

Finally, Merlin slowly looked over his shoulder and graced Arthur with the most beatific smile. Merlin cleared his throat. “I hope you haven’t been creepily watching me sleep.”

“Only for the last couple of hours.” He laughed and placed a lingering kiss on Merlin’s lips. He couldn’t remember the last time he slept so well and woken up so happy. It felt like something incredible - something he was sure was a lot like love.

Arthur lay back against the pillow and put his arm around Merlin’s waist. “Do you know what I’m craving?”

“I’m not sure.” Merlin turned around in Arthur’s arms. He leaned over and kissed Arthur’s neck.

“I really want sausage.”

Merlin’s shoulder shook as he laughed. He leaned back and looked up at Arthur’s face. “That’s probably not a euphemism, right?”

Arthur shook his head. “I’m starving.”

Merlin kissed Arthur’s chest. “I’ll make breakfast.” He started to get out of bed.

Arthur pulled him back. He wasn’t ready to let Merlin go. He was sure he wouldn’t ever be.

“Arthur, if you want to get fed one of us has got to get to the kitchen.”

Arthur rubbed his nose against Merlin’s shoulder. “Are you sure Will isn’t home?”

“I don’t think he is. He said he had to be at work fairly early.” Merlin held Arthur’s arms that were around his waist.

Arthur finally sighed. “Alright. Cook fast.” He slapped Merlin’s butt as he stood up.

Merlin giggled. At the door, Merlin turned back. “Arthur…”

Arthur sat up and smiled. 

Merlin chuckled and shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll tell you later.”

After Merlin left, Arthur sunk down into the sheets. He was so content it was ridiculous.

~*~

Merlin just got the sausages on the stove when he heard a knock at the door. He cocked his head to the side. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He made his way over to the front door. He opened it and was immediately floored.

His parents were standing in front of him - both of them. His mother looked anxious, but happy to see him. His father also seemed hesitant and a little irritated. But he wouldn’t expect anything less from his dad. 

His mother reached over and hugged him before Merlin could figure out what to say. His father nodded at him. “Hello, son.”

Merlin finally shook off his shock and wrapped his father up in a big hug. Balinor seemed surprised and stiffened.

Merlin pulled back and stepped away to give them room to come in. He ushered them into the kitchen. He rushed to turn off the stove.

He looked at his parents as they took a seat at the table. “I’m so happy to see you both, but what are you doing here?”

Hunith bit her lip. “Will called us.”

Merlin held his arms around his chest. He had a feeling what Will had told them. He glanced to the second floor and hoped that Arthur just stayed in bed.

“He told us about your relationship with Arthur.”

Merlin put his head in his hands. He’s beyond annoyed with Will and some of that annoyance transferred over to his father. He didn’t want to be mad at him, but he couldn’t help it. He turned to his father. “This is what it takes for you to come here - because I’m in a relationship?”

Balinor stood up. “With a Pendragon! After what you found it, what could you possibly be thinking?”

“I’m thinking that Arthur isn’t his father. You don’t have to worry about him,” Merlin insisted.

Hunith gave a slight smile. “You’re right. Arthur was such a sweet boy. I really can’t wait to see him again.”

“Merlin!”

Merlin slapped his forehead. Of course.

“I actually am craving a different kind of sausage now. If you know…” Arthur halted as he walked into the kitchen. He was just wearing a towel.

They all wore various expressions of shock. 

Arthur’s cheeks were red and his eyes bugged out. He backed out of the room, before he sprinted up the stairs.

Balinor shot Merlin a disgusted look. “What is he doing here?”

Hunith looked down at the table and rubbed at her forehead. “I would think that was fairly obvious, dear.”

Balinor glared at her.

“I didn’t get a chance to. I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting company,” Merlin answered.

“Your parents are now ‘company?’” Balinor leveled a furious gaze at him.

Merlin felt like his father was determined to pick a fight and he really didn’t want to rise to that challenge. “I’m sorry you took offense to that. I didn’t mean anything by it. Father, I’m so happy to see you. You don’t know how badly I wanted to talk to you after I found out what happened in the past.”

Balinor’s expression softened. “I probably should have told you sooner. I just wanted to protect you.”

Merlin stepped closer to his father. “I know.”

Balinor gripped Merlin’s arms. “And that’s why we’re here now. You’re making a huge mistake. The Pendragons aren’t to be trusted.”

Arthur came back down and bit his lip as he looked at Hunith and Balinor. He was dressed in the black slacks and grey button down he’d been wearing the previous night. He still looked a bit mortified, but he also seemed happy to see Hunith and Balinor.

He nodded toward them. “I’m so sorry about my appearance before.” He extended his hand toward Balinor.

Balinor barely glanced down at it. He acted as if it was poison. “You can go now.”

Arthur slowly let his hand fall to his side. He cleared his throat. “I can’t blame you for being angry. I know that what my father did was unforgivable.”

“You’re smarter than you look,” Balinor sneered.

“Father!” Merlin stalked over toward Arthur and put his hand on his back. His father was being unfair.

“But I can assure you that my father is truly sorry.”

“I don’t care what he is or he isn’t. Uther Pendragon is nothing to me now.”

Arthur took a deep breath. He looked between Merlin and Balinor. “I know that we had a rocky start, but I truly care for your son. I promise you that I won’t hurt him.”

“Do you think I could trust a promise from you?” Balinor stalked closer to Arthur. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Merlin’s hand on Arthur’s back.

“Please, dad, just give Arthur a chance. He’s a good man,” Merlin pleaded.

“I trusted his father once and it came back to bite me in the arse. I won’t be fooled again,” Balinor declared.

Arthur stood up a little straighter. “With all due respect, I’m not my father. It’s not fair to judge me because of him.”

Balinor crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Fine. I’ll judge you based on your actions. You were a spoiled child years ago and from what Will has told me, nothing has changed.”

Merlin stepped between the two of them. “That’s enough. You don’t know Arthur any more than Will does.”

Balinor shook his head.

Hunith walked towards Arthur. “I’m so sorry. We didn’t plan to attack you.”

“Speak for yourself,” Balinor said through gritted teeth.

Hunith shot Balinor an intense look, which shut Balinor up momentarily. “I think we should all calm down and speak rationally.”

“I’m done talking with him around.” Balinor marched toward the front door. “I’m going to see Gaius.” He looked back at Merlin. “I’ll return when he’s no longer here. Then we can have a proper talk.

Merlin threw up his hands.

Hunith kissed Merlin’s cheek. She turned to Arthur and took his hand. “Again, I’m so sorry. It was lovely to see you again.” She shot him another apologetic look before she followed her husband out.

Arthur sighed after they were both gone. He shook his head. “Well I made that about as awkward as it could be.”

Merlin leaned his head on Arthur’s shoulder. “It wasn’t you, Arthur. It wasn’t you.”

When Will got home, Merlin planned on strangling him.

~*~

Arthur walked into his house in a daze. He had wanted to spend the entire day with Merlin, but after his parents’ visit the mood was destroyed. The day had started out so well and he couldn’t believe it had devolved so horribly.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator when he heard tinkling from a piano. He followed the sound to the den and sat down next to his father. Arthur listened to him play. He waited until he was done before he dumped the bomb on him. He turned to look at Uther. “Balinor’s back in town.”

Uther’s eyes widened. “I beg your pardon?”

Arthur just nodded. “He’s here. I saw him at Merlin’s flat. It was incredibly awkward. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he’s ready to forgive anyone in this family.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Arthur hung his head. “He wasn’t at all happy to find out Merlin and I are seeing each other.”

Uther shook his head. “This is my fault, not yours. His anger should be directed at me.”

“I wasn’t able to make him see that. Not today anyway. Now Merlin is caught in the middle.”

Uther put his hand on Arthur’s back. “Do you think Merlin will end things with you?”

Arthur had thought about it on the way home, but didn’t think Merlin would let him go - though that realization didn’t make things easier. “I don’t think he will. I just don’t want to see this tear apart him and his father. They need each other.”

Uther clutched Arthur’s shoulder. “I don’t know Balinor anymore, but I don’t believe he’s changed so much that he still wouldn’t go to the ends of the Earth for his family. No matter who Merlin is with, Balinor will always love him.”

Arthur sighed. He was sure his father was right, but love or not, things could still get really bad between Balinor and Merlin. Arthur was determined to make things right.

~*~

Will is prepared for Merlin’s wrath when he got home, but if Balinor was able to talk sense into him, it was worth it.

Merlin is pacing when he got inside. He whirled around and stared daggers at Will. “I can’t believe you brought my parents into this.”

Will refused to back down. “Someone had to. They want what’s best for you and so do I.”

“Arthur is what’s best for me!” Merlin pointed at his chest. He stalked toward Will. “If you were a real friend, you would at least attempt to get to know him instead of basing your opinion on what his father did.”

“I trust my instincts,” Will defended his decision.

“You’re not trusting your instincts. You’re listening to your demonic boss. What happened to the Will I knew who didn’t get led around the nose by anyone, let alone someone like that?”

“You don’t know him.”

“And neither do you.” Merlin ran his hand through his hair. “I’m so sick of fighting with you over this, Will. I don’t understand why you can’t see how much I care for Arthur. He means the world to me. When you hurt him, you hurt me. Is this job really worth that?”

Will gulped as Merlin blasted past him. 

He put his head in his hands. He could truly see how much this was tearing Merlin up inside, and for one of the first times, he really wondered if it was worth it.

~*~

As much as the thought of being in love scared Arthur, still scared him, he couldn’t help but feel such sublime joy just hearing Merlin’s voice that he realized that his father might be right and no matter what happened it might all be worth it.

Merlin had just called Arthur early in the morning. Arthur was instantly awake and sat up in bed.

“Morning!”

“Good morning.”

Merlin yawned. “I dreamed about you last night and now I have a giant erection.”

Arthur grinned. “What a coincidence. I dreamed of living in a house made of bacon and now I have a giant erection.”

Merlin let out a sweet sounding burst of laughter. “You get really, really hungry in the morning, don’t you?”

“Yes. I need lots and lots of food and lots and lots of sex.”

Merlin giggled. “I wish I was there to give you both.”

Arthur sighed. He wished he was there, too. Arthur threw his covers off and got out of bed. “Did you talk with your father anymore last night?”

Merlin blew out a breath. “He and my mother came back to stay with us, but my father didn’t seem to do much talking.”

“I’m so sorry again for how how I came down the stairs. That’s absolutely not how I ever imagined meeting them again. I don’t know how it could have been more awkward.”

“They could have come in while we were having sex.”

Arthur nodded. “Yes, that would have been worse.” He walked into his bathroom. “How do you think I can get him to give me a chance?”

“I think we may just need to be patient. I know he said that he couldn’t trust you because of your father, but I think he might have had a problem with you anyway. I didn’t date a lot, but he never liked any of the boys I brought home. Once he gets used to the idea, he might not be as angry.” Merlin suggested.

“I hope so.” Arthur began to brush his teeth.

“I know that he said you were spoiled when you were younger, but did my father seem to like you at all.”

Arthur spit into the sink. “He was quiet a lot. I didn’t spend much time with him, but he never yelled at me or seemed to dislike me.”

“He was like that at home - very quiet.” Merlin sighed. “I really don’t think he personally dislikes you.”

Arthur leaned over and clutched the sink. “But what if he stays upset with me? Will that ruin things between us?” 

He had told his father he didn’t think Merlin would break up with him over this, but he would rather hear confirmation of that from Merlin.

“Absolutely not.” He sounded completely certain. “I plan on holding onto you for a long time.”

Arthur grinned like an idiot. He felt such love for him and wanted to tell him, but worried it might be too soon. “I’ll see you later, Merlin.”

“I’ll see you, Artie.”

Arthur chuckled and hung up.

He went down to get some breakfast. After he was done, he played with Kilgharrah for a bit. When he walked towards the front of the house, he saw someone standing by the gate. As he got closer, he realized it was Hunith.

He jogged over and opened the gate. “Mrs. Emrys. Hello.”

“Call me Hunith, love.” She smiled.

Arthur felt eight years old again. He had so many flashes of memory of Hunith treating him so kindly and basically being a second mother to him.

Hunith gestured to the front door. “May I come in?”

Arthur nodded. “Of course.”

They walked inside and Arthur awkwardly stood in front of her. He didn’t know what to say. “Uh, I apologize for what happened at Merlin’s, for how I appeared-”

Hunith waved off his apology. “You don’t need to apologize. You had every right to be there. It was a bit startling seeing you in nothing but a towel. It was very different than when you were a baby.”

They both laughed.

“I remember what a sweet boy you were.”

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think many people would have called me sweet. Balinor was right and I was a bit spoiled.”

Hunith put her hands together and grinned. “Yes, you were, but you were also very sweet. You were so wonderful with Merlin.”

Arthur stepped a bit closer. “I promise you I would never hurt, Merlin.”

Hunith touched his arm. “I know that. I could see the way you looked at him. I’m happy my son has found someone who cares for him so much.”

Arthur could feel that he was blushing. 

Hunith looked around the foyer and bit her lip. “How is your father doing?”

“I…” Arthur spotted his father at the top of the stairs. “You can probably ask him yourself.”

Hunith looked confused, but saw where Arthur was looking and whirled around. She sucked in a breath as Uther came down the stairs.

Uther slowly met Hunith in the middle of the room. He looked so ashamed. “Hunith, I don’t even know where to begin…” He sputtered. “I-I know an apology doesn’t begin to cover what you deserve. What I did was inexcusable and cowardly.”

Hunith walked toward him.

Uther seemed braced to fully accept a slap or some kind of physical attack.

Hunith just stared at him. She looked down at the floor. “Uther, I understand the pain you were in. I lost my best friend.”

Uther closed his eyes and swallowed. 

“But that pain was compounded by an old friend stabbing my husband in the back. I watched my husband’s reputation be destroyed. I had to flee from the city and Merlin lost the only home he ever knew. You hurt my husband and my child and I don’t know if I could ever forgive that.”

Uther continued to look down at the floor. “I know I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I have spent years trying to become a better person and I will do whatever it takes to make this right with you and with Balinor.”

“There’s nothing you can say, Uther.” Hunith let out a long breath. “But if your actions prove that you are a changed man, then I believe you can earn some measure of forgiveness. You were a good man once and I hope that you can be that man again. Owning up to what you did was a good start.”

Uther didn’t let on, but Arthur could tell how much it meant to him to hear that. 

Arthur realized how much he had missed Hunith. He could see where Merlin’s goodness and great heart came from.

~*~

After a tense breakfast, Hunith left and Merlin and Balinor were left alone together for the first time in ages. Balinor helped him clean the dishes and it felt like old times.

Merlin glanced over at his father hesitantly. “I’m sorry.”

Balinor looked over to him. “For what?”

“I gave you such a hard time for not wanting me to come here and I understand so much now why you didn’t. I’m so sorry for what Uther did to you.”

Balinor wiped his hands on a dish rag. “That’s not something you need to apologize for. Maybe if I had told you what happened we could have avoided all of this.”

Merlin turned around and leaned against the sink. “I’m glad I came here. I feel closer to you now that I know what happened.”

Balinor had a small smile on his face. “Maybe you’ll come home now.”

Merlin grimaced. He hated to ruin this moment, but didn’t want to lie to his father. “I’m not going to do that.”

“You can transfer schools. Ealdor has a fine university.”

“It’s not because of school. Not just because of school.” Merlin gulped. “I don’t want to leave Arthur. I think I was meant to come back here for him.”

Balinor grunted and turned his back on Merlin. “You can’t be happy with him.”

“You don’t know that.”

Balinor spun around. “People always say how much Arthur looks like Ygraine, but I personally see more of Uther in him.”

“I think he has both of his parents in him and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Balinor narrowed his eyes. “Are you defending Uther?”

Merlin backed away and shook his head. “No! I would never do that.” He exhaled loudly. “Father, you have every right to hate that man. But the anger you’re carrying around can’t be good for you. Maybe if you talk to Uther you can find some peace. You can yell at him, hit him - do whatever you need to move past it.”

“I’ve already moved past it. I don’t ever want to see that man again. I understand he hasn’t had the courage to show up here and face what he did,” Balinor growled.

Merlin bit his lip and became fascinated with the floor. “Actually…” He trailed off and then whispered, “he’s here.”

Balinor gasped. “What?”

“He lives with Arthur. I’ve talked to him.”

Balinor wiped at his mouth and turned around, before turning back to glare at Merlin. His fists curled at his side. “I can’t believe that bastard had the nerve to talk to my son. Has he been trying to pretend that he’s a good man? I fell for that once.”

“No.” Merlin rubbed his forehead. He could tell that his father was not going to budge. “I’ve barely talked to him.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” Balinor stepped up right in Merlin’s face. “This is even more reason for you to come back home.”

Merlin shook his head. “I’m not leaving Arthur.”

Balinor gritted his teeth. “We’ll see about that.”

~*~

Will tried to close the front door as quietly as possible. As soon as he was outside, He slowly rubbed hand down his face. He couldn’t believe what he’d overheard between Merlin and Balinor. He had felt bad for eavesdropping, but he was glad he finally found out where Uther was. He guessed Edwin had the right idea to get Balinor and Hunith to Camelot.

Thinking about Edwin he raced over to his boss. Edwin had been becoming increasingly frazzled around the office. Will was starting to see an uglier side of him, but he thought that getting this bit of good news might help.

Feeling braver than usual, Will raced past Morgause and went into Edwin’s office. Edwin whirled around as he was standing by his office window. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I have good news.” Will turned around and saw Morgause behind him. 

She was glaring at him, but Edwin held out his hand and shooed her away. She growled before she stormed out.

“Well, spit it out!” Edwin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “What is it you have to tell me?”

Will hesitated for a moment. “Uther is here in Camelot. He’s living with Arthur.”

Edwin just blinked at him. He looked down. “I can’t believe it. He’s actually here.”

“You suspected it,” Will said. He became concerned as he saw Edwin started to shake.

“Yes, I have. But I’ve never been able to confirm it. That blasted dog…”

“What?” Will shook his head.

“That doesn’t matter now. I can finally make things right.” Edwin grinned.

“What do you mean by that?”

Edwin ran his hands through his hair. “We need to get to the Pendragon estate.”

“For the story?” Will didn’t like the look in Edwin’s eye. He looked almost manic with glee.

“Of course. You can get some hands on interviewing experience and watch a horrid man have to face what he’s done.” Edwin put on his coat. He walked past Will. He turned at the door. “Are you coming?”

Will wrung his hands. This was what he had been waiting a long time for. He’d almost ruined his friendship with Merlin over this. He needed to see it through until the end. He nodded and followed Edwin.

~*~

Merlin arrived at Arthur’s house. As uncomfortable as he felt around Uther, the place was really starting to feel like a second home. Arthur wasn’t home, but he played with Kilgharrah while he waited.

Uther walked into the outside garden and sat by and watched Merlin and Kilgharrah. Merlin thought that was odd since he usually made himself scarce while Merlin was around. Uther cleared his throat. “I’d like to see your father.”

Merlin turned around slowly. He scratched his head. “Uh...I don’t know if he wants that.”

“I’m not surprised.” Uther sighed. “I don’t know how I would even see him. I’m still too afraid to leave the house.”

Merlin walked closer to him. “You really haven’t left the house since you left the institution?”

Uther shook his head. “I’m just so scared of what people will think of me. I’m afraid to really face what I’ve done.”

Merlin didn’t know what to say to that. His phone vibrated before he could come up with anything. He almost ignored it when he saw that it was Will texting.

“don’t get mad at me.” The text read.

Merlin groaned. “What did you do?” He texted him that.

“I heard you and your dad talking. I told Edwin where Uther is.”

Merlin slapped his forehead.

Will texted him again. “We’re heading over.”

Merlin’s eyes bugged out. He turned away from Uther who was watching him. “What does he want?”

“the story.”

“Don’t come here.”

“It’s too late.”

Merlin cursed and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. He hurried over to Uther. “I think we have a serious problem?”

“What is it?” He gestured towards Merlin’s pocket. “Was that your father on the phone?”

“No. My father doesn’t text. It was my friend Will. He says that he and his boss Edwin Muirden are on their way over.” Merlin rubbed his forehead. This is wasn’t good.

Uther began to pace. “I’m not prepared for this.”

“Maybe you should hide?”

Uther whirled around to face him. “I don’t need to hide. I think I can do this.”

“I’m glad that you feel up to this and think you’re ready, but I have a bad feeling about this. Edwin gives me the creeps. I don’t think he’s coming here for anything good.”

Uther shook his head. “Of course it won’t be easy, but the least I can do is hear him out.”

Merlin closed his eyes. Maybe he really was blowing this out of proportion.

~*~

Arthur rubbed his hands together and waited outside Merlin and Will’s flat. He took a deep breath. He hoped Balinor and Hunith were still there. He hadn’t told Merlin he was coming over. He wanted to get things settled between him and Balinor.

When Balinor opened the door, he deflated when he saw Arthur on the other side. “I have no interest in speaking to you.”

He tried to close the door, but Arthur was too fast. He put his hand against the door and squeezed in past Balinor. 

Balinor glared at him. 

Arthur held up his hands. “Look, I’m sorry.”

“If you’re going to try and apologize for your father again, don’t. Let him fight his own battles.”

Hunith walked in from the kitchen.

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not going to apologize for my father again. You’re right. Your issues are with him. Which is why I’m hoping you’ll be willing to give me another chance.” He sighed. “I know that I used to be spoiled, and I still have my moments now, but I’m not a bad person. Basically, losing both of my parents forced me to grow up really fast.”

Hunith smiled sympathetically, but Balinor crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Arthur carefully took the picture of Merlin and him as boys, out of his pocket. “One thing that hasn’t changed is how happy Merlin makes me.” He handed it to Hunith.

She held a hand to her chest and her eyes glistened with tears. “I can’t believe you kept it all this time.”

“My mother told me once that it was my job to protect Merlin and I promised to always look out for him. It’s a promise I will always keep,” Arthur swore.

Balinor just stared at him. 

Hunith took Arthur’s hand and led him into the den. “Let’s catch up.”

Arthur looked over his shoulder at Balinor. He reluctantly followed them. Arthur decided to count that as a victory.

~*~

Will texted Merlin when he and Edwin had arrived. Merlin met them at the gate. He hesitated before he opened it. Edwin didn’t say anything to him. He just marched into the house.

Merlin and Will exchanged a glance.

Merlin raced ahead of Edwin and put his hand on his chest. 

Edwin eyed his hand with a stone face.

“Calm down and just wait,” Merlin declared.

Edwin narrowed his eyes and watched as Merlin walked away.

Merlin walked into the den and found Uther standing in the middle of the room. He looked almost green. “Are you sure about this?”

Uther gave a shaky nod.

Merlin sighed and walked back out and gestured for Will and Edwin to come in.

Edwin walked in stiffly and seemed to pale when he laid eyes on Uther.

Uther gasped. “You look just like your father.”

“I’ve prepared for this moment for a long time,” Edwin took a couple of steps forward. “I thought I’d have a lot of questions to ask.”

“I’ll answer anything you like,” Uther said.

“Do not interrupt me!” Edwin said in a voice that could cut glass. He exhaled long and slow. "I don't need to ask you anything. I just want you to know the suffering you caused."

Uther swallowed thickly. "I know."

Edwin marched toward him and pointed. "You couldn't possibly know." He shook his head slowly. "You deserve to die."

Merlin stepped in between them. "That's enough!"

Edwin only took a slight step back. "I can't believe you're defending him. After what he did to your father, you should be standing with me! Is Arthur that good in bed?"

"Fuck you!" Merlin snarled. "I would never defend what Uther did, but what point is there for coming here if you're not going to listen to him?"

"So I can listen to some ridiculous, and far too late, apology? Where was an apology years ago when it mattered? Before my father was thrown out of a profession he'd dedicated years of his life to? Before my mother and his so called friends threw him away like so much rubbish? Where was he when I was sent away to live with family - and I use the term loosely - who thought it was perfectly acceptable to use a red poker as a tool of punishment?"

Uther looked astonished and devastated.

Merlin swallowed and felt immense pity for the suffering Edwin had to go through.

"He can't say anything I need to hear! I want justice!"

Uther stepped around Merlin. "I know this will seem like cold comfort to you, but I think about your father every day. I wish I could go back and change what I did. I wish I could go back and be punished properly for my actions."

"But it's too late for that, isn't it?" Edwin sneered. "Instead of jail you went to some posh institution. You haven't suffered...but you will!"

He glared at both Merlin and Uther before backing out of the room.

Merlin saw the scared and horrified look on Will's face. He shook his head and mouthed "I'm sorry." He ran after Edwin.

Merlin wanted to chase after Will, but he was too scared to move. The look on Edwin's eyes chilled him to the bone.

He knew for certain they were in real trouble.

~*~

Will had never seen anything like he just witnessed. Edwin was clearly losing it and Will didn't know what to do.

He heard Edwin's car door slam and ran after him. He hopped in the car.

Edwin had his head on down on the steering wheel and was gripping it tightly.

Along with feeling scared, Will was more than a little ticked off. "This was never about any story, was it?"

Edwin turned to him and his lip curled in disgust. "No, you blistering idiot!"

Will balled his hands into fists. Before he could do anything, Edwin lean over and opened the glove compartment. He practically screamed when Edwin pulled out a gun.

Will panted and clutched at his hair. "What the fuck? You can't...put that away!"

Edwin got out of the car instead.

Will scrambled out.

"Uther needs to pay!"

Will ran in front of him and held his hands out. "Not like this! You don't want to throw away your whole life!"

"It'll be worth it!" Edwin's eyes were narrowed to slots as he looked at the house.

"You can't do this! Merlin's in there!" Will looked back at the house.

Edwin shrugged. "So?"

Will gaped at him. "So he's my friend! What if you miss Uther and hit him?"

"He deserves it for being a traitor!" He stepped around Will.

Will ran and stopped him again. "There's no way in bloody hell I'm letting you hurt my friend. If you think I won't kick your arse, you're mistaken!"

Edwin sighed deeply. He covered his face with his hand. "You don't know how much this hurts, Will."

Will's shoulders slumped. "I know it's wrong that he doesn't have to pay, but you just have to do what you set out to do and tell the story in the paper."

Edwin nodded. "You're probably right."

Will closed his eyes and sighed.

"Then again you're probably not."

Will only opened his eyes in enough time to see Edwin's arm come down atop his head, then he blacked out.

~*~

Merlin didn't think he could call the police since Edwin really hadn't done anything. He called Arthur, but he didn't pick up. He texted him about Edwin's visit and told him he needed to get home right away. 

After that he decided to call his flat and hoped his parents might pick up. He was listening to the second ring, when he heard the front door slam open.

He immediately knew this was bad news. He hung up and tried to dial the police when Edwin came in with a gun drawn.

Merlin gasped and held onto his phone tightly.

Edwin turned the gun on him. "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask that you hold all calls until after all the bloodshed."

Merlin gritted his teeth. Even though he was scared, he refused to let Edwin see that. He was not going to let Edwin get away with this.

He finished dialing.

Edwin ran over. He growled and backhanded Merlin across the face. He ripped the phone out of Merlin’s hand and hung up.

Uther ran over to Merlin as he just got his bearings back. Merlin gingerly touched the corner of his mouth. When he pulled his finger back, he saw there was blood. He glared at Edwin anyway. “It doesn’t matter that you hung up. The police will probably send someone to check anyway.”

Edwin smirked. “I doubt it. And even if they do, everything will be over by then.”

Uther stood in front of Merlin. “Your quarrel is with me. Let him go.”

Edwin laughed. “It’s far too late to play the hero, Uther.” He stared at Merlin. “A part of me really wants to kill you because you’ve been such a disappointment, but I don’t want to do that to Balinor after what he did for my father.” Edwin backed away and pointed the gun again at Merlin. “But make no mistake, I will kill you if I have to.”

“Where’s Will? What have you done with him?” Merlin shouted.

“He’s taking a bit of a forced rest.” Edwin grinned as he backed out of the room.

Merlin growled. He hated feeling so helpless. He hoped like hell that he was right about the police, and if not, that Arthur got his text.

Edwin came back into the room. He was carrying in two red gasoline cans.

Merlin and Uther shared a panicked look.

Edwin began to throw gasoline over everything. “I thought about killing you with this gun, but then I thought - too quick. My father hung himself. His windpipe was crushed and he choked on his own blood.”

Merlin closed his eyes and winced at the mental image that conjured up.

“You deserve to die just as wretchedly. I think choking on smoke and anticipating the pain of burning alive will do.” Edwin explained so matter-of-factly as if he was reading off a menu. He stalked over to Uther. “I plan on watching you burn while you watch all of your precious memories of Ygraine burn with you.”

“Edwin don’t do this please? This is something you can never come back from.”

Edwin glared at Uther as he took a lighter out of his pocket. “I don’t care.”

Merlin charged at him, but Edwin grabbed him around the waist and kneed him in the face. Merlin slipped to his knees. He tried to fight it, but he soon fell unconscious.

~*~

Arthur laughed as Hunith finished telling him a story about Balinor practically staying glued to the window the night of Merlin’s first date. Every time he heard a car pass their house he was up like a shot. What was even funnier was how annoyed Balinor got while Hunith was relating this story to Arthur. It was really a sweet story and showed even more how protective he was of Merlin.

He was so wrapped up in listening to Hunith talk, he forgot that his phone had buzzed several times. He finally checked it when Hunith got up to get more tea. Merlin had called a couple of times and had texted him about Edwin coming over and that he needed to get home.

He bit his lip as he stared at his phone. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Is there something wrong?”

Arthur looked up and Balinor was staring at him. He didn’t look as gruff as usual and there actually seemed like there might be concern in his eyes.

Arthur sighed. “Merlin texted me. He said that Will and Edwin were going over to my house.”

“Edwin Muirden?”

Arthur nodded.

Balinor rubbed at his beard. “I remember that boy. He was so devastated after his father’s death. Just another example of Uther’s destructive lies. He deserves whatever vitriol Edwin wants to unleash.”

“I know what happened to him was horrifying, but Merlin has always had a bad feeling about him. He said that I should get back home and I think that I should.” 

Arthur stood up. He was trying not to get ahead of himself and jump to the worst conclusions, but he still got to his car as fast as possible.

~*~

Merlin was groggy as he struggled to open his eyes. He coughed and smelled smoke everywhere. When he opened his eyes, he yelped. 

Edwin was looming over him and there were flames in the background framing his face. He looked like the devil.

Merlin turned his head to the side and saw that Uther was unconscious on the ground. He could feel smoke filling his lungs. His head hurt worse than he ever felt before. He struggled to sit up.

Edwin put a hand on his chest. “No, don’t get up. You see Merlin you have a decision to make. You need to finally decide whose side you’re on. And I hope for your sake you make the right decision this time.

Merlin rubbed his eyes and Edwin slowly moved his hand and stood up. 

Merlin watched Edwin carefully as he got up. He looked toward the front door and tried to figure out a way that he could get out. Even if he could maneuver around Edwin, the flames were another matter.

Merlin panted as he looked back at Edwin. He looked as if he knew exactly what Merlin was thinking. Merlin curled his lip in disgust. “You’re a psychopath and you can rot in hell!”

Edwin briefly closed his eyes and sighed. “Another poor choice.”

Even though it was a cliche, his life truly flashed before his eyes as Edwin started to pull the trigger. The next thing he knew he was on the ground and he heard a gunshot a split second after that. 

He could feel a heavy weight on him and smelled the familiar scent of Kilgharrah. He looked up and Kilgharrah’s mouth was open as he stared at Merlin.

Merlin focused on Edwin.

He was snarling at Kilgharrah. “God Damn you!” He turned the gun on Killy.

Merlin yelled as he ran toward Edwin. Thankfully, he was fast enough that Edwin didn’t have the opportunity to turn the gun on Merlin. 

Merlin almost had the wind knocked out of him as he landed on top of Edwin. He could feel heat on his face as the flames were getting closer. 

Edwin roared and savagely put his hands around Merlin’s throat. Merlin tried to get his hands under Edwin’s, but was struggling. Edwin was stronger than him. He felt like Edwin was crushing his windpipe. 

Once again Kilgharrah came to his rescue. He bit down hard on Edwin’s wrist.

“Fuck!” Edwin screamed.

Merlin scrambled up and kicked Edwin in his ribs twice. Edwin writhed on the floor. Merlin desperately looked around the room. He raced over to the mantel. He picked up a vase and shattered it over Edwin’s head. Edwin slumped onto the floor.

Kilgharrah was over by Uther. She was licking his face. Uther was starting to stir.

Merlin leaned over Uther and shook him. “Come on, Uther. We need to go.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” 

 

Once again Merlin found himself staring down the barrel of Edwin’s gun. Kilgharrah was too far to do any rescuing this time. But he didn’t need Kilgharrah this time. 

Before Edwin could get a shot off, Will appeared behind him. 

Will kicked him in the balls and Edwin fell to his knees. Then Will knocked him out cold.

He looked over at Merlin and smiled. “And you say I need to work on my timing.”

Merlin panted and stared at him. He shook his head and just felt immense relief that Will was okay, but they all definitely weren’t out of the woods.

Will stepped over Edwin and raced to Merlin’s side. “I think you can see that we really need to get the hell out of here.”

Killy whined by Uther’s side.

Merlin coughed and ran to Uther. “You need to help me get him up, Will.”

They both took an arm and struggled to pick Uther up. Uther’s eyes were opened, but he still looked out of it.

Merlin is petrified as they went through the door. There are flames all along both sides of the door. They manage to get Uther out, when he stopped in his tracks. Will and Merlin almost tripped.

Uther looked up at Merlin. “Leave me here.”

“What?” Merlin and Will said at the same time.

“I don’t want to leave all of my memories of Ygraine behind. And Edwin was right, this is what I deserve.”

Merlin shook his head and immediately regretted it. His head was throbbing so hard he could barely concentrate. “And what does Arthur deserve? He barely has any family left and you’re going to leave him all alone?”

“He has you.” 

Merlin looked down and struggled to keep Uther upright. “I....I love Arthur and I’ll always be there for him, but I’m not you. He needs you, too. Please, for him?”

Uther’s lips trembled and he looked up at the ceiling.

“Oh, my God. I’m sorry we don’t have time for this therapy session. We’re all going to do, so do you want to live or not?” Will yelled.

Uther looked between the two of them and nodded. “Let’s go.”

A shot rang out.

Will fell to the ground. 

 

“Will!” Merlin screamed. He looked behind him.

Edwin was standing there with the flames surrounding him. His face was almost black and his eyes blazed with fury. He didn’t wait this time and pulled the trigger.

~*~

Arthur had been floored when Balinor had decided to go with him to his house. Even though he wanted to, Arthur chose not to fill the awkward silence.

He heard a weird ringtone and realized it was an older, traditional ringtone. It must have been Balinor’s phone.

“Hello.” 

There was silence for a few minutes. When Arthur heard Balinor gasp, he looked over. Balinor’s eyes were wide and he looked like a ghost. 

“Is he alright?” Balinor covered his mouth. “We’ll be there right away.” He hung up and stared straight forward.

Arthur’s mouth was dry and he didn’t understand what was going on, just that it was terrible and he knew it involved Merlin. He tried Balinor some time to process it, but he couldn’t take it anymore. “What’s going on?!”

Balinor slowly turned to him. “There was an accident at your house. A fire. Merlin’s been hurt.”

Arthur didn’t know what to do. He felt like he was in a trance for a moment, but he was driving and didn’t want to get into an accident, especially before he got to Merlin.

He hurriedly turned the car around and got to the hospital as fast as possible.

They were both out of the car like a shot and raced to the hospital lobby. Arthur got to the front desk first. “My name is Arthur Pendragon. There was a fire at my house tonight.”

“Your father Uther is in room 25,” The brunette receptionist announced.

Arthur furrowed his brow. “My father?” He felt so embarrassed. It hadn’t even occurred to him that something could have happened to his father. “What happened to him? Is he alright?”

“He came in with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, but he’s stable.”

Arthur let out a relieved sigh.

Balinor pushed him aside. “And my son, Merlin Emrys, how is he?”

The receptionist checked her computer. “He was brought in for smoke inhalation. He was also stable.”

“What room is he in?” Balinor asked.

“He’s in room 35.” Someone said behind them.

Balinor and Arthur whirled around.

Will looked at them with an almost sheepish expression.

Balinor stalked over to him. “What happened?”

Will looked down at the floor. “It’s all my fault. I brought Edwin to the house. He confronted Uther, and said he would make him suffer. He left and he got a gun.”

“A gun?!” Arthur didn’t understand. If he had a gun, how did the fire start?

Will looked at him with wide eyes. “I tried to stop him, but he knocked me out. Uther said that he came back and wanted Uther to suffer so he set a fire. Uther tried to save Merlin, but Edwin attacked him. He lost consciousness after that. When I came around, I found a way into the house and I stopped Edwin from shooting Merlin.”

Arthur leaned over and felt like was going to be sick.

“I thought I had knocked him out enough for us to get out, but Uther stopped and wanted to stay behind,” Will explained.

Arthur walked toward Will. “What do you mean he wanted to stay behind?”

“He just wanted to give up and die. He thought it was what he deserved. But Merlin, and I guess I helped, convinced him to go. But Edwin woke up and he took a shot at us. I got grazed and fell down. He tried to shoot Merlin, but Uther pushed him out of the way.”

Arthur blinked back tears. “He saved Merlin’s life.”

“I did, too - and Kilgharrah,” Will muttered.

“Kilgharrah?” Arthur ran his hands through his hair. “Where is she now?”

“I think they took her to the vet hospital, just as a precaution. She really was fine.”

Arthur put his hand over his eyes and stepped back. He was having trouble processing all of this. He turned around and started to walk away. “I need to see my father.”

It didn’t take him long to get to his father’s room. He paused briefly. He really wanted to see Merlin, but that would have to wait. It helped that he knew Merlin was alright.

When he walked in Uther was sitting up. He seemed alert. “How are you?”

Uther touched his shoulder gingerly. “I’ve been better, but I’ll live.”

Arthur walked toward the bed and touched his father’s knee. “I’m so glad. Thank you so much for what you did for Merlin.”

“I owed him. He tried to save my life.”

“And he shouldn’t have!” Balinor roared.

Arthur whirled around to face him. He held up his hands and made sure Balinor didn’t charge toward his father. “Please don’t start this now.”

“I would prefer it if I never had to deal with your family again, but you keep hurting my family! You almost got me killed and now you did the same thing to my son.”

Arthur tried to reason with him. “Edwin was the one who attacked them!”

“Because of what your father did to his family!”

“So that makes it alright?!” Arthur had enough with Balinor. He was on edge and his father had just taken a bullet for Merlin. He wasn’t going to let Balinor jeopardize his father’s recovery.

“That’s enough!” Hunith rushed into the room. “I would like to see my son now!” She ripped Balinor’s arm and started to tug him away, but stopped. “Thank you for what you did for my son, Uther!”

Balinor grumbled and stormed out of the room. Hunith followed him.

Arthur sat down on his father’s bed. “I’m sorry about that.”

Uther picked at the sheets on his bed. “Balinor has every right to be upset with me.”

Arthur sighed. “I understand that, but you need your rest.” Arthur bit his lip and glanced up at Uther. “Will said that you wanted to be left to die in the fire.”

Uther rubbed at his forehead and shook his head. “I just thought it would be easier, but I know that would have been the coward’s way out and I don’t want to leave you.” Uther reached out and took Arthur’s hand.

Arthur was so grateful that everyone was okay, but he was still scared this wasn’t over. ‘What happened to Edwin?”

“The last time I saw him he got knocked out by some debris in the house. I don’t think the firefighters had found him by the time we got taken away.”

Arthur hoped to God that Edwin was dead, but he would feel much better when they found the body.

He spent a few more minutes with his father before he left to find Merlin’s room. When he turned the corner he saw Hunith and Balinor talking with some doctors. The doctors left and Balinor and Hunith embraced.

Arthur’s sped up his pace and stood before them as they pulled apart. “How’s Merlin?”

“He’s going to be fine, but the doctors want to keep him here overnight,” Hunith answered.

Arthur tried not to look at Balinor, but felt him trying to drill holes into him with the heat of his stare.

“He’s asleep right now,” Hunith added.

“May I sit with him?” He looked at the room door. He ached to hold Merlin’s hand.

“No,” Balinor gritted out.

“Balinor!” Hunith said with a warning tone.

“You said yourself he’s asleep.” Balinor turned to Arthur. “When he wakes up, family needs to be the first people he sees. And I am going to do my damndest to convince him to keep away from you and your dangerous family.” He left Arthur and went into Merlin’s room.

Hunith looked at him with sympathy in her eyes, but followed her husband.

Arthur exhaled loudly. He turned and kicked the wall. He was not going to let Balinor keep them apart.

~*~

Merlin felt awful. He wanted to just sleep, but images kept flashing into his memory - he remembered the fire, the smell of smoke, the fear for his life, the demented look on Edwin’s face. His eyes sprung open and he gasped. 

He took in his surroundings and realized he was in the hospital. Suddenly, he is smothered in a hug and his mother is kissing his face all over.

“Oh, my sweet boy! You scared us! Please don’t do that again.” Hunith kept stroking his hair.

“I’m sorry, mum.”

Hunith shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take you to task. You were a hero.”

Merlin scoffed. “I don’t if I would call myself that. We all played our part, even Kilgharrah.” Merlin’s eyes widened and he sat up with a groan. “How is she?”

“She’s fine.” Hunith touched his shoulder. “Gaius called and she’s doing well.”

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good. How are Uther and Will?”

Balinor growled at the mention of Uther’s name.

“Will is perfectly okay. Uther was shot in the arm, but he’s also alright.”

Merlin closed his eyes and tried to take calming breaths. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. “Where’s Arthur?”

“I told him to stay away.” Balinor chimed in.

Merlin’s eyes widened. “Why would you do that?”

“How could you ask me that? You were almost killed because of those people.”

“Arthur is not ‘those people.’ Arthur had nothing to do with this. He is my boyfriend. He cares for me and he makes me happy. And…” Merlin trailed off.

“And what?”

“And I love him.” Merlin smiled. “I love him and I need him.” Merlin reached out and took his father’s hand. “Father I love you and I always will, but you don’t get to tell me what to do anymore. If you don’t care for Arthur, for whatever reason, that’s fine, but he will be in my life and that’s that. Now please, can you go and get him for me?”

Hunith kissed his forehead. “Yes.”

Hunith was barely gone for a blink of an eye before she walked in with Arthur who was staring intently at Merlin. 

“He was waiting for you out in the hall,” Hunith said with a sweet grin on her face. She turned to her husband and took his hand and dragged him out of the room. “We’ll give you some privacy.” She closed the door behind them.

Arthur stared into Merlin’s eyes. In a flash he was by Merlin’s side. He took Merlin’s breath away with a deep, hard kiss. 

He pulled back and his eyes were glistening with tears. “I was so scared for you.”

“I was scared too. There were a couple of times I thought I was going to die.”

Arthur let out a shaky breath and a tear fell.

“I thought of you every time.” Merlin’s voice cracked. “You were the last face I wanted to see.”

Arthur threw his arms around Merlin and hugged him. He sniffled and kissed Merlin’s forehead.

Merlin wiped his tears. 

“I love you, you know,” Arthur whispered.

Merlin chuckled. “I do know and I love you, too.”

Arthur kissed his lips gently. 

Merlin scooted over and Arthur sat next to him and gathered Merlin to him. Merlin exhaled. Even though he was in a hospital bed, he felt completely content. Well almost. He couldn’t get Edwin completely off his mind. 

Merlin looked up at Arthur. “How’s your house?”

“Fire and Rescue got the fire out and are assessing the damage,” Arthur explained.

Merlin gulped. “And Edwin?”

“They haven’t found his body, but I’m sure he’s dead. I only wished I could have killed him myself.”

Merlin sighed. He wished they would find the body already. He wasn’t sure if he could put this past him until they did.

~*~

Balinor paced outside in front of the hospital.

Will had been listening to him rant about the Pendragons for ten minutes.

“I don’t understand what my son is thinking. They almost got him killed.”

Will pushed away from the wall he had been leaning against. “If you’re going to blame them, then you should blame me as well.”

Balinor swiveled around. ‘Why would I do that?”

“Balinor, I’m the one who trusted Edwin despite Merlin warning me about him. I could tell that there was something off about him tonight and I still brought him to Uther’s. This is on me.”

Balinor sighed. “You couldn’t have known what he was planning.” Balinor rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t condone what he did at all, but I understand the rage that he felt. I’ve tried to put what happened behind me, but my anger at Uther still eats away at me.” He ran a hand down his face. “I’m just so grateful nothing happened to Merlin.”

“I wouldn’t have forgiven myself if anything had happened to Merlin.” Will shook his head. He wasn’t sure how he could ever make this up to him.

Balinor put his arm around Will. “Edwin is to blame for this. You may have made your share of mistakes, but you helped save Merlin’s life, and I will forever be grateful.”

Will pursed his lips. He wasn’t sure he deserved the gratitude.

He spotted two of the firefighters from that night walking toward the entrance. He raced toward them. “Hello. I was at the Pendragon estate where the fire was tonight.”

They seemed to recognize him.

“I was wondering was there a body found there?”

They looked at each other. The taller one spoke up. “We did a sweep of the whole house and didn’t find anyone.”

Will blinked at them. Shit. Where the hell could he have gone?

~*~

Merlin kept having horrible dreams of Edwin. Some of them were more out there- he had a ridiculous dream where Edwin was the devil ruling over hell. But most of the dreams just kept replaying what happened that night. Edwin’s demented eyes seemed to follow him around.

Merlin woke up from another one and saw Arthur sleeping beside him. He smiled. He poked Arthur in the side.

Arthur shot straight up. 

Merlin giggled.

Arthur looked at Merlin with concern. “Are you alright? Do you need anything?”

“I need you to go home.”

Arthur cocked his head to the side. “That’s going to be hard given that my home is a smoldering wasteland.”

Merlin shook his head. “Right. How could I forget? But you need to go and sleep in a proper bed.”

Arthur looked down at the hospital bed. “This is a proper bed.”

“That can barely fit the two of us. And when was the last time you checked on your father?” Merlin raised his eyebrows.

“The last I checked he was sleeping and I doubt that has changed.” Arthur stroked his hand through Merlin’s hair. “How are you feeling?”

Merlin shrugged. “Physically I’m fine. I just keep having nightmares about Edwin. I feel this sense of dread. I worry if he’s still out there what he could do.”

Arthur tightened his arm around him. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I swear.”

Merlin gave him a peck on the lips. He got up to go to the bathroom. He looked at Arthur over his shoulder. “Can you get me something to eat - that isn’t hospital food?”

Arthur laughed. “Your wish is my command.”

Merlin smiled at him. After he was done in the bathroom, he walked out and yawned. He was starting to feel sleepy again. 

The first thing he noticed was that the room was a lot darker than before. A shiver ran up his spine as he looked around the room. He gasped when his gaze landed in the corner of the room and he saw Edwin sitting in a chair, in the shadows. He had on a hoodie. It was hard to make out his face, but he knew it was him. He had a gun trained on Merlin.

Merlin backed up and hit the wall.

“Hello, Merlin.” He stood up slowly. “Notice anything different?” 

As he got closer to Merlin he took off the hoodie and Merlin could finally see his whole face. Merlin covered his mouth with both hands. Edwin was horrifically scarred. Half of his face looked normal and the rest looked like Freddy Krueger - somehow a creepier version of Freddy Krueger.

“Get a good look at the monster you made me.”

Merlin eyed the call button by his bed.

“Uh-uh-uh.” Edwin wagged a scarred finger. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not?” Merlin’s voice quivered.

“Because the first person I shoot will be the nurse who answers the call and then I’ll shoot Arthur when he comes back. That should be any moment, shouldn’t it?”

Merlin hit his head against the wall. He couldn’t risk their lives.

Edwin smiled. “I see you’re finally making better decisions.” He glared at Merlin. “You should be happy to know that I plan on taking my life. You and Will and Uther did a lot of damage and I frankly am surprised I’m still standing. It must be a testament to how much hate can drive a person.”

“What did you want an audience? Just go ahead and do it,” Merlin gritted out.

Edwin advanced on him. “Not yet. I plan on taking someone with me first. Now, I wanted to be Uther, but when I got to his room he was being questioned by the police. I thought about waiting it out, but then I realized the person I really want to kill is you. You are just as sick as he is and you have ruined everything for me!”

Merlin’s lip trembled. He was petrified and he didn’t know a way out of this. He was determined not to let Edwin see him break down. “If you think I’m going to beg for my life, forget it. Just get it over with.”

Edwin let out a chuckle that turned Merlin’s stomach. It was inhuman. “I want your death to have more of an impact. We’re going up to the roof.” He gestured with the gun to the door. “Out.”

Before they can go, Arthur started to walk in. “Merlin, I tried but the only thing I could find…” He jumped back when he saw Edwin. He immediately turned to Merlin.

Edwin took a step back and pointed the gun at Arthur.

“No!” Merlin screamed and ran to the front of the room. 

Edwin cocked the gun. “Back up or I kill him.”

Merlin held his hand out in front of him toward Edwin. “Please, I’ll do whatever you want, just leave him out of it.”

Arthur shook his head. He stepped toward Edwin. 

Edwin alternated pointing the gun at both of them.

“Shoot me if you want,” Arthur said.

Both Edwin and Merlin gaped at him.

“If you leave Merlin alone, I’ll go with you.”

“Absolutely not!” Merlin yelled.

“Shut up!” Edwin growled. “I’m in charge here. I’m sticking to my original plan.” He carefully went over to Merlin and grabbed him around the throat and put the gun to his head.

Arthur crept towards them. “You don’t want to do that. Listen to me. You want to hurt Uther, yeah?”

Edwin didn’t say anything but gave a slight nod.

“If you take me away from him, that’s better than killing him.” Arthur’s reasoning made a twisted sense.

It clearly appealed to Edwin. He grinned. “You’re right.” He pushed Merlin forward and ran and grabbed Arthur. He backed away from Merlin.

“Arthur, don’t do this, please!” Merlin begged.

“I promised you I wouldn’t let him hurt you and I promised my mother I would protect you. I’m not breaking either of those promises. I love you, Merlin.” 

Merlin couldn’t believe how strong Arthur was being. He didn’t flinch away from Uther. It was if he accepted that this had to happen, but Merlin couldn’t accept it. He screamed and rushed forward. Edwin easily kicked him in the face and knocked him out.

Merlin didn’t know how much time had passed when he came to. He struggled to his feet. His jaw was aching. It quickly came back to him what had just happened and he panicked. His first instinct is to call the police, but he doesn’t know if they’re still there and if they’re not how long it will take them to get here. Arthur might be dead by then - if he wasn’t already. He pushed that thought out of his head.

Merlin decided to try and find some help from someone. He raced out of his room. It must have been late because the hallways are darkened and it felt like a ghost town. He’s about to scream for help, when he passed by a fire emergency. There’s an ax prominently displayed.

He stared at it and realized that he needed to do this himself. Edwin needed to be stopped. He turned his face away and broke the glass and grabbed the ax. He found the rooftop entrance and raced up the stairs.

When he got to the roof, he was horrified to see Arthur standing on the ledge with Edwin pointing the gun at him. He hid the ax behind him. 

Edwin whirled around. “Stay right there!”

“Please, Edwin! I’m begging you not to do this. Arthur has never done anything to you! You can still turn things around!” Merlin lied.

“In prison?!” Edwin shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’m done talking.” He turned his back on Merlin.

“So am I!” He took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. He prayed it worked. “Hey!”

Edwin angrily spun around.

Merlin threw the ax with all his might. He closed his eyes right before it landed in Edwin’s chest. He could hear a disgusting squelching sound.

Edwin screamed. He flailed backwards. A gunshot rang out and he fell to the ground.

“Merlin!”

Merlin looked over to see Arthur fall.

“NOOOO! Arthur!” Merlin ran to the ledge and couldn’t even describe the relief when he saw Arthur hanging on to it.

He didn’t appear to be shot.

Merlin crouched down and grabbed Arthur’s wrists. It was a struggle, but he managed to get Arthur over the ledge and back on solid ground.

Arthur fell on top of him and Merlin clutched him tightly. They were both panting and shaking.

Merlin pulled Arthur’s face back and sobbed. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too!” Arthur cried.

They embraced and held each other for a long time.

Merlin looked to the side and saw Edwin’s body. He patted Arthur on the back and tried to get up. Arthur stood up and helped Merlin.

Merlin has to make sure Edwin is truly dead this time. He winced when he saw the ax buried deep. Edwin’s eyes were open.

Merlin almost crumpled to the ground, but Arthur caught him and held him tight. It was finally over.

~*~

Arthur watched over Merlin the whole night. He was shocked that Balinor let him. Merlin’s sleep was fitful. He muttered Edwin’s name a few times.

At about seven o’clock in the morning, Merlin suddenly shot up in bed. “Arthur!”

Arthur was instantly seated next to him and stroked the back of Merlin’s hand. “It’s alright. I’m here.”

Balinor and Hunith rushed into the room.

Merlin panted and looked so relieved when he saw Arthur. He hugged him. “I dreamed Edwin killed you.” 

Arthur stroked Merlin’s back. “It didn’t happen.” He pulled back and smiled. “I’m alright.”

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” Hunith asked.

“Physically, I’m doing a lot better. I just...I can’t believe I killed someone.” Merlin sighed.

“You had no choice.” Balinor shook his head. “I should never have left the hospital.”

“It’s not your fault, father.” He gripped Arthur’s hand. “It’s not Arthur’s either.”

Balinor nodded. “I know. I know what Arthur offered to do and I believe my judgment about him was definitely mistaken.”

“I would do anything for Merlin.”

Arthur was surprised when Balinor gripped his shoulder and smiled at him. “I know that now.”

Arthur looked up at Balinor and smiled.

~*~

Will hesitantly walked into Merlin’s room. He didn’t know if he had any right to be there. He only takes a few steps inside. “If you want me to leave, I will.”

Merlin sat up. “No. Will I…”

“Don’t say anything.” Will rushed to Merlin’s bedside. He had tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Merlin. I should never have fallen for Edwin’s act and I never should have chosen him over you. I’m the worst best friend ever.”

“No, Will.” Merlin insisted.

‘Yes! You got hurt and Arthur. You must be disgusted with me.” Will could barely look Merlin in the eye.

“Will, shut it! How can I forgive you, if you won’t stop bloody talking?”

Will finally looked up at him fully.

“Yes, you were an idiot,” Merlin started and then chuckled. “But I’ve always known that.”

Will laughed.

“Will, I understand why the job was so important to you. I just wish you had listened to me, but we can’t change what happened now. I just want to move forward. We can both learn from this.”

Will nodded solemnly.

Merlin shrugged. “Besides, I kind of like that you’re now going to owe me for the rest of our lives.” 

Will took Merlin’s hand. “Anything, Merlin. Anything you want.”

“For starters you could loosen your grip on my hand. I’m starting to lose blood flow.”

Will dropped his hand. “How about I cook breakfast for a month?”

Merlin’s lip curled up. “Why are you threatening me?”

Will stroked his chin and pondered this some more. “I will make myself scarce every time you and Arthur want to have sex.”

Merlin shook his head. “That’s not really necessary.”

Will cocked his head to the side. “Merlin, I was in the room next door when you lost your virginity. You can get surprisingly loud.”

Merlin put his hand over Will’s mouth. “Fine. We have a deal.”

Will had a wide smile on his face when Merlin leaned back. He didn’t deserve to have such a wonderful best friend.

~*~

Arthur and Uther surveyed the wreckage of the house. The house was in ruins and most of their possessions were gone, except for a few items on the third floor. 

They were both gutted, but knew that given that nobody died, it could have been a lot worse.

Arthur was surprised to see Balinor coming up the walkway.

Uther looked equally startled. He swallowed and looked back at what used to be his home. “This is poetic justice, isn’t it?”

“No.”

Uther looked back at him with wide eyes.

“I remember good times in this house. My son took his first steps here.” He looked up at the sky. “It feels wrong that it’s gone.”

Uther didn’t say anything and crouched down and picked up the charred remains of some piece of paper.

Arthur wondered if he should leave, but worried about what Balinor would say to his father.

Uther looked up at Balinor. “I’m so sorry for what happened to Merlin.”

Balinor exhaled loudly. “I don’t need your apologies - for that or what happened before.”

Uther stood up and faced him. 

“But I know that I have to let this go. I don’t want to end up like Edwin. Living with this rage inside of me is not good for my family.”

Uther didn’t seem to know what to say or if he should say anything at all. 

“This doesn’t mean I forgive you,” Balinor added. “I will never forget how you tore my family apart and how you betrayed my trust.”

Arthur knew this wasn’t what his father wanted to hear, but he felt that Balinor was being fair.

Balinor looked over at him. “There’s a good chance that our sons will be together for quite some time, so I’m willing to figure out a way to coexist peacefully. That’s the best I can do for right now.”

Uther’s lips quirked up slightly at the corners and he nodded. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Arthur really wished Merlin was here to see that. He knew how happy he would be.

~*~

Merlin laughed as Kilgharrah shook himself out and sprayed him with water. 

Arthur walked into the bathroom and gaped at him. “Merlin, what are you doing? We have to be at your graduation in an hour and you’ve gotten your shirt all wet.”

Merlin gave a slight roll of his eyes. “I can change. Kilgharrah needed to get ready.”

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest. “You really still think they’re going to let you bring her there.”

“She’s the town hero dog. She can do anything she wants.” Merlin stroked her wet fur. “Isn’t that right.”

Arthur shook his head, but grinned.

Merlin had been a little embarrassed at the hero label he had acquired after everyone found out about what happened at Arthur’s estate and at the hospital, but he had no problem with the special treatment that Kilgharrah received. She got free trips to the vet for life and the supermarket marked down all their meat. Killy got all the bones he could ever want.

Will had also enjoyed his hero status. He had gotten the promotion at work under his new boss, Mithien Reeves. He had gotten an exclusive interview with Uther and was really doing well for himself. He had really matured, except for the fact that he kept trying to hook up with his new roommate Freya.

Merlin had moved out a couple months after the fire when Arthur found a perfect two bedroom flat in the heart of the city that wasn’t far from Merlin’s job.

Arthur and Merlin offered to let Uther stay with them, but he wanted to try being on his own. They found a posh one bedroom flat that wasn’t too far from their place. 

It had taken some getting used to, being out and about, but he was doing better and didn’t keep himself away. Some people in town kept a wide distance from him still. But thanks to Will’s story - with Uther admitting everything he’d done and apologizing - and the volunteer work Uther did at the hospital, people were starting to realize he wasn’t a monster. Uther was beginning to realize that, too.

Arthur dried Kilgharrah off, while Merlin went into their bedroom to change. After a few minutes, Arthur walked into the room. “Did I tell you Lance and Gwen are trying to find people to take in Sefa’s new kittens?”

Merlin frowned. “I thought they wanted to keep all of them?”

“They just don’t have enough room. The twins are walking now and with the new baby coming, it’s just too much,” Arthur explained.

“You don’t think, we-”

“No,” Arthur cut him off. “Killy would tear a kitten apart.”

Merlin sighed. “Fine.”

“They’re thinking of giving one to Will,” Arthur added.

“That might not be a bad idea.” Merlin grinned.

“I don’t know. I tried to talk them out of it. I don’t know if I can trust Will to keep a houseplant alive, let alone a kitten.”

Merlin took a playful swing at his arm. “He’s not that bad anymore.”

Arthur chuckled. “I suppose.”

He went over to tie Merlin’s tie.

“I was thinking maybe my father would like one,” Arthur suggested. “He really misses Killy.” 

Merlin nodded. “That’s a good idea.” He stroked Arthur’s cheek. “You’re such a good son.”

Arthur blushed, which Merlin thought was exceedingly sweet. He kissed him on the lips.

It was the kind of kiss that led to more, especially as Arthur grabbed Merlin’s ass. He moved them back towards the bed.

Arthur pulled back. ‘What do you think you’re doing?”

“Come on, we have time.” Merlin waggled his eyebrows.

Arthur laughed. “I don’t think so”

Merlin pouted. “You were the one who grabbed my arse. You know what they say - ‘Don’t start something, unless you can finish it.”

Arthur just shook his head. “Come on you horny goat, we have to see our parents.” He picked up Merlin’s tie and led him out of the room. 

Merlin groaned.

~*~

Arthur laughed as he watched Merlin squirm as Hunith pinched his cheek.

“It seems like just yesterday you were coming into this world and now you’re such a man.” She sniffled. “You’re going to make a wonderful veterinarian.”

Even though it was hard, and Merlin didn’t suddenly stop caring, he learned to control his emotions better and decided that being a vet was worth pursuing. Gaius has offered him a full-time job at the clinic and Merlin is more content than Arthur had ever seen him.

Balinor walked over to Merlin and put his arm around him. “I’m so proud of you, son.”

Merlin beamed up at him.

Uther joined in and shook Merlin’s hand. “Congratulations.”

Merlin grinned and patted his shoulder. He walked away to talk to Gaius.

Balinor cleared his throat and looked around the yard. He pursed his lips as he looked at Uther. “So...have you been...doing well?”

“Yes, thank you.” Uther nodded.

“Good.” Balinor took a sip of his ale and looked away.

Awkward conversations were par for the course with them now. It was better than screaming matches or Balinor glaring at Uther all of the time.

Hunith stood next to Arthur.

“I suppose that’s progress.” Arthur gestured with his head toward Balinor and Uther.

“Of course it is. That’s the most Balinor’s said all week.” Hunith said with a sly grin.

Arthur threw back his head and laughed.

Arthur head to the front of the yard and clinked a fork against his glass. “Hello, everyone. I wanted to thank you for being here. This feels like it’s been in the works for a long time. I know how much Merlin struggled with deciding on a career path and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see him doing something that he truly loves.” He raised his glass. “Merlin, I’m so proud of you.”

Merlin smiled radiantly and blew a kiss at Arthur.

Arthur walked over to Merlin and Hunith joined them. Merlin kissed Arthur on the cheek.

“I have a present for you.” Hunith handed Merlin a small red box. “And one for you, too.” She gave Arthur a slightly bigger box.

Arthur grinned. “You didn’t need to get me something, too.”

Hunith shook her head. “Of course I did.”

Arthur and Merlin both kissed her on the cheek and she giggled.

Merlin tore the white ribbon off and opened his first. He laughed and grinned at his mother. He showed Arthur the present. It was a silver dog whistle with Merlin’s name engraved on it.

Arthur smiled and looked down to open his present. He gasped when he saw what it was. He took out the silver framed picture with trembling hands. He stared at it and then at Hunith. It was the picture of Merlin and Arthur as children. He thought it was forever gone in the fire. “Where’d you get this?”

Hunith gave him a warm smile. “I always had a copy of it. Your mother gave it to me. Merlin told me that you were devastated that you lost it and you missed having it, so I wanted to give you mine. I have enough pictures of you from that time.”

Arthur shook his head and could feel himself begin to tear up. He hugged Hunith again. She patted his cheek and then walked away.

Arthur let out a burst of laughter and showed Merlin the picture. Merlin put his arm around his waist and leaned his head against Arthur’s shoulder as he looked down at the picture. “It’s perfect. It’s right where it belongs.”

Arthur kissed Merlin’s temple. “Yes, it is.”


End file.
